Mayhem
by krystal lazuli
Summary: Number Five of the Infinity Series! This story continues the tale of Loki as King of Asgard. An intruder slipped into Asgard and the resulting mayhem has left a trail of murder and confusion. Thor has lost his hammer and his powers, and Loki's son has been kidnapped. The first story in this series is Alliance, and there are three one-shots "Rage", "Guilt" & "Wedding Day". ENJOY!
1. Chapter 1: Triad

**Author's note: **_If this is the first of my stories you are reading, you will find the first stories in this series posted that tell the tale up to this point. The first story is "Alliance". There are also two one-shots related to this series "Rage" and "Wedding Day". Enjoy!_

Chapter 1: Triad

• •_**Frigga•**____**•**_

"Thor's hammer," Katirya's voice rang out in the silent library. Following the traumatic events of the previous day, everyone had eventually dispersed with plans to meet up after breakfast. The realization that nothing could be done until the perpetrator was identified had resulted in a series of senseless discussions that deteriorated into multiple arguments. Loki had finally commanded everyone to leave, allowing Katirya some time to process everything.

Breakfast had been a quiet affair, with no one speaking, a somber mood settling over the entire city. The kidnapping of Kai and the murder of Jane Foster had been horrendous.

Now everyone was gathered in the library to discuss the situation. Frigga looked at the group. Jane's friends were huddled in one corner, uncertain what they could contribute, shocked by the suddenness of her death. The Warriors Three were standing together close to the fireplace, although the Lady Sif was suspiciously absent. Katirya and Thor were seated near the fireplace, while Loki stood behind Katirya, his arms crossed in front of him.

Frigga sat back in her chair to view the three of her '_children'_. She considered them all her children even though she had not given birth to any of them. They each had their own personal strengths and weaknesses. Her eyes landed on Katirya first, the newest of her children. Kiri, a daughter of an Elder of the Universe, had powers that even she did not understand. The woman was untested and uncertain of her abilities. Frigga had seen her grow over the past year, but knew Kiri still was afraid she was not up to the task of taking down Thanos. And now she had another foe to fight – the kidnapper. Actually two problems, Frigga corrected herself, for she knew Kiri was carrying a burden of guilt about the kidnapping. She knew Kiri was blaming herself for leaving Kai with Hlif yesterday.

Katirya had surprised almost everyone in the room that morning when she arrived. Frigga knew most had expected her to be a weeping mess, but instead she had appeared composed, although one look at her face ensured that Katirya would show no mercy to the person who had taken her son.

She moved her gaze to Loki, her youngest son. His marriage to Katirya had been tumultuous, but he was finally maturing into the man she knew he could be. Loki had lived under the shadow of his father and brother for so long, she had often wondered if he would ever realize his true potential. The past year had tested him, and he had struggled. He was not perfect, but then no one was. Everyone had faults; it was the ability to accept them and work with them that made one great. She had a feeling Loki had the potential to be great.

While she had not agreed with Katirya in delaying their return to Asgard, it was obvious the two had settled their differences. They would always fight as no marriage was without disagreement. Frigga felt certain the two had developed a bond that would not be broken. And through that bond, there was an unusual sharing of power. Loki's powers had increased imperceptibly over the past few days since Kiri had returned. It appeared that the two could combine their powers through the Stones.

Frigga's gaze turned finally to her eldest, Thor. Thor saw things much differently than his brother. Frigga had always felt he would make a great leader, but knew he would always struggle with the finer points of ruling. Thor only saw things as right or wrong, black or white. Loki, on the other hand, understood the varying shades of any issue. She found it interesting that even though the two had been raised in the same environment, they had turned out so differently.

Then there was the issue of Jane Foster. When Odin banished Thor to Earth, no one had expected him to develop a relationship with a human, although Frigga knew they ought to have expected it. Sent to Earth, thinking he had no powers, of course he was going to rely on the people who saved him. Frigga wished she could explain to her son that he did not need the hammer, but he had it in his mind that he needed the hammer.

Frigga had a sudden vision of the three working together. Once Thor regained his powers, if he worked with the unusual blend of Katirya and Loki's powers, the three would be an almost invincible triad.

Katirya repeated her statement, breaking Frigga's reverie. "Thor's hammer." Her eyes met Frigga's across the room. She nodded imperceptibly, letting Frigga know that she was aware of Thor's powers, even if Thor was not.

The hammer was indeed the key. Once he had it again, he would believe in his powers once more. One day, perhaps, he might realize the hammer really was not necessary. Frigga let out a soft sigh.

"My hammer?" Thor asked. "Why is that important? I would think you would be more concerned about finding the kidnapper."

"Once we have the hammer, your powers combined with ours, shall make us a formidable opponent once we discover who has taken Kai," Katirya voiced Frigga's recent thoughts.

"We must also deal with the remains of Jane Foster," Frigga added quietly, looking towards Jane's friends.

Thor nodded, stepping over to the small huddle. "What do you believe Jane would wish? We can return her to Earth, or offer a burial here on Asgard."

Darcy looked up, tears streaking her face. "I don't know… she loved it here, but Earth is… I mean, was, her home."

Ian pulled Darcy closer to him. "Honey, I think it best to take her home, to Earth."

Erik nodded. "Her work was there. I think Earth."

"I shall make arrangements then," Thor spoke. "We can take her back later today." He then turned towards the Warriors Three. "Has anyone seen Sif? I am worried about her."

"She has requested a guard on her quarters, refusing to leave," Hogun answered. "Since you denied her request to be put in prison for her actions…"

"Sif did NOT do it!" Thor shouted adamantly, slamming his fist into a nearby table. Everyone in the room jumped at the sound.

Frigga looked curiously at Thor, seeing the conviction on his face that Sif was innocent.

"We did not say that she did," Hogun finally spoke up. "I agree with you, she is not one to murder in cold blood. But someone did."

"And whoever did it took Kai," Katirya finished. "Heimdall has said there was no sign of any intruders within Asgard, even though we know there was one."

"Can Thanos be responsible?" Fandral asked.

"Possibly, but what would he want with Kai? And why kill two of his key people?" Loki asked.

"Kyrath was not a 'key' person," Katirya said sarcastically. "She was simply a pawn, a person who would do exactly as Thanos bid. She was disposable. Hadriath… I am not certain how important he was to Thanos."

"Well, we need to develop a plan, that much is obvious," Loki said. "You believe Thor's hammer is important?" He directed this question to his wife, who nodded in response. "And we need to make the proper arrangements for Jane Foster, so I suggest we start there. Heimdall will continue to search for any signs of Kai…"

He was interrupted as a messenger burst into the room. "My King!"

Loki stiffened as he realized this messenger was from Eir, just like last night's. "What is the problem?"

"Eir has asked that you come at once. There is something you must see," the messenger replied.

"What must I see? Can you not tell me? Why must I come down there?" Loki demanded.

Frigga rose, stepping over to her son. "Eir would not send for you if it were not important. We can see to Jane's arrangements whilst we are there."

Loki nodded, the offered his hand to assist Katirya in rising. Placing his arm around her waist, he guided his wife towards the door.

• _**The Kidnapper **_**•**__

She entered the room, depositing the infant in a small bed in the corner. She has always wanted a child, specifically a child by Loki. This wasn't exactly what she had planned, as she had wanted the child to be a child of hers and Loki's, but for now, this would have to do.

She frowned as she thought about Loki, not understanding why he did not seem to want her.

'_What ever did he see in that little dark-haired witch?' _she though.

She conjured up an image of Katirya, along with one of herself, allowing her to compare the two. She snorted in derision as she looked at the two figures.

'_Seriously'_, she thought. There was no comparison. SHE was tall, tall enough to look Loki directly in the eyes. How he must suffer to have to bend to look down at the tiny Katirya! And she was skinny! She ran her hands down her voluptuous figure as she gazed at the image of herself she had created. How could Loki even look at that scrawny thing when she was around?

Closing her eyes, she imagined wrapping herself around the dark-haired god, knowing the little witch could not manage to do half of what she could!

A knock on the door disrupted her thoughts.

"What?" she snarled, disliking the interruption. She snapped her fingers and both images disappeared.

A servant entered hesitantly. "My lady, a messenger came while you were gone."

"And?" she prompted.

"It was one of _his _slaves," the servant began.

She knew who _he _was – Thanos. "So what was the message?"

The servant gulped as he noticed the other being that she had brought with. "You were gone a long time, and he is concerned you have not fulfilled his wish."

"Well, he is wrong. I brought it back," she jabbed a finger at the figure lying on a small pallet in the corner.

"I shall send a message…" the doors burst open and a slave of Thanos entered the room.

"My master is concerned, my lady. You have been gone overly long for what should have been a simple mission," the slave spoke with derision.

"Who are you to talk to ME like that?" she spat at the slave.

"I am the servant of Thanos. You will answer to him for your insolence!"

"Hey, I did what he wanted. It's over there. Go ahead and haul it back to him," she growled.

"You were expected to deliver it to him directly. He will not be happy with this, nor with the fact that you killed two of his people," the slave replied insolently.

"Ha! If those two were his top workers, he needs my help more than he knows!" she replied with a laugh.

The slave moved closer to her, towering over her. She had not realized how tall he was. She smiled seductively at him. "Do not try your wiles on me," he warned her.

"Why not? You are rather, ah… _interesting…"_ she purred back.

The slave pushed her away. "And he has heard of the other things you did," his gaze wandered over to where the infant lay sleeping.

"Him? Ha! Loki owed me that!"

"And the nurse?" the slave prodded.

"It will take them a long time to find her body, but she was quite useful," she sniggered.

The slave sighed. "I just hope Thanos will be satisfied with your deeds, as much as you seem to be. BUT… you must bring it to him. That was what you agreed to." His gaze shifted once more to the body in the corner.

"Whatever!" She put her hands on her hips. "I will bring it, okay? Satisfied? Just tell him not today. I've got to take care of my baby."

"It is not truly your child, but I shall advise him of your delay. Do not wait overlong," he warned her as he left.

She let out a huff of breath, angry at the demands. Kai started to fuss, waking up from his nap. She recognized the sounds, knowing he was hungry. She had posed as Hlif after she had killed the nurse, so she knew what he wanted. Unfortunately, she had left his mother back on Asgard, so there was no one here to nurse the infant.

As she realized that she had not thought this through thoroughly, her anger intensified. She grabbed the bed Kai was in, shaking it. This only caused the baby to cry more.

"Oh shut up!" she said in frustration. "Why did I bother bringing you? I should have taken your mother, locked her up and pretended to be her. Then I would have had a baby that was Loki's and mine! Not that witch's offspring!"

**Author's note: **_I hope you enjoyed the start to this story, the fifth in my series__**. **__I always enjoy comments and reviews. I often get great ideas as a result of something a reader has seen. _


	2. Chapter 2: Connections

**Author's Note: **_I apologize for the delay in posting this. I was out of town for a long weekend and just now catching up. I should be back to my regular 2-3 chapters a week. I did post a short one-shot "GUILT" which is a scene that happens between Retribution and Mayhem.  
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Chapter 2: Connections

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya struggled to maintain her composure when Eir insisted they must return to see her. What could be so important? She felt Loki's arm around her waist as her mind flitted back to the night before, and the argument that had ensued between the two of them once they had returned to their rooms.

"Loki?" she spoke as they walked out of the library. "I really do not wish to visit the healers right now…"

Loki paused to look down at his wife. "Perhaps it might be better if you return to our rooms."

"I do not want to go there either," Katirya replied. She wasn't sure what she wanted. She bit her lower lip, then sighed. "Okay, the healers, no… the gardens! I want to go to the gardens." She half-turned to head towards the gardens then stopped. "No, not there either."

Loki took a deep breath, trying not to sound exasperated.

Katirya glared up at him. "All right! I know, I am being irrational, but can you blame me?"

"Kiri, we went through this last night. I thought it had been settled," Loki responded gently. "It was not your fault."

"How can anyone simply settle the fact that someone stole our baby?" Katirya stomped her foot as she finally spoke what was uppermost on her mind.

Loki glanced at the healer's messenger. "Send word to Eir we will be down shortly."

The messenger nodded and left.

Loki steered Katirya back towards the library.

"That was quick," Frigga commented as they returned.

"Kiri is having issues right now. I felt we needed to discuss this, and include all of you in what we determined last night," Loki explained as he guided Katirya towards the group.

They sat down and Katirya started clenching her fists nervously. "I do not know if this…"

"Kiri," Loki spoke sternly. "We need to talk, all of us."

"But…"

"No, I think you had some interesting insights last night. I think they need to be shared. Perhaps your ideas might help us find out who has taken Kai and murdered Jane," Loki continued before Katirya could try to complain anymore.

Katirya rolled her eyes. Their argument last night had gotten rather personal and she wasn't sure she wanted to share everything. She took a deep breath and spoke before she could change her mind. "I think there is some connection between the healers and whoever did these atrocious acts. Not to mention the other things that have been happening. First, we know Sif had nothing to do with it, but it seems rather odd to me that so much of this started after she came to get me to return to Asgard. I think Thanos might be behind it, but we cannot be certain. What _is _odd," she glanced at Loki, knowing she had not mentioned this last night, "is that I think someone in the healers might be responsible. At first I thought it was Hlif, but she cannot be found. Loki says he trusts her, and I did too, so I suppose it wasn't her."

"Kiri," Loki said warningly.

"Okay… Hlif didn't do it," Katirya said with resignation, although she still was not quite convinced. "But someone there HAD to have been involved. They were the only ones besides the group that came to find me on Earth who knew that I was not Trin."

"That is an interesting connection. I suppose it is possible, was this all done to target you do you think?" Thor asked.

"No, I don't think so. Not when you consider the targets, the comments in that note, and the fact it mostly seemed to be aimed at you and Loki," Katirya replied. "I do not think they considered me in the mix, except to use me as a possible perpetrator of the incidents since I was the only new person to arrive in Asgard in the past few days. The fact it turned out to be me, with Kai, was an added advantage. I think Jane was the main target, to get at you, Thor."

Thor thought about that and then nodded. "So it was about Jane, and thus me."

"Loki as well. That is why I think it was Thanos. He was unaware of the fact that I was still alive when this all started. Still might not be aware of that unless the kidnapper has reported back to him," Katirya pointed out. She rose from her seat heading towards the door. "So, I think we need to collect Sif and start at the healers. They already have asked for Loki's presence, so perhaps they might have something to add to this."

"I wonder what was planned for me originally? How were they planning to attack me?" Loki asked as he followed Katirya.

"The question is, who wanted to have your child?" Katirya arched her eyebrows as she looked at him.

Thor laughed at that comment. "It could be one of many!"

"Really?" Katirya looked at Thor. "Many?"

"Oh, yes. Many!" Thor grinned as he clapped his brother on the back.

Loki looked sardonically at his brother, knowing full well that he was not the one usually sought after by the ladies. If anything, Thor was always the preferred one. "I have not had _that _many, unlike Fandral…" he tossed a look towards the known ladies man.

Fandral looked shocked. "ME? Are you saying I have been involved with many women?" A round of laughter from everyone met his innocent denial.

"Ummm, what about those Dalgaard sisters?" Katirya asked with a laugh. "Seriously though, there is a link here. Someone in your past, my charming husband, desires you. Otherwise, why leave the note?"

"I'm a bit confused by all this," Darcy finally spoke up. "What you are saying is that Jane was killed to punish Thor, and that the person sent to do that for some reason wanted Loki, and found a way to get even with him too?"

Loki looked slightly affronted. "Are you saying I am undesirable?"

Katirya started laughing at his look. "I am sorry, dear. But it is funny," she reached up and pulled his head down towards hers, "and I do find you rather irresistible."

Loki did not miss the chance to kiss his wife. As he lifted his lips from hers, he looked over the top of Katirya's head at Darcy. "It would seem that at least one person finds me desirable."

"So who have you scorned?" Thor asked, curious to see if Loki would answer that question. His brother had always been rather close about his conquests.

Loki shrugged, "Other than Hela?"

"I do not think she had anything to do with this, there must be another," Thor replied.

"I agree. We may have to think on this, but first, let's see what Eir has for us," Katirya added as they reached Sif's quarters.

A guard was stationed at the doorway. He stepped aside as they approached and opened the door, allowing them to enter. Katirya headed back to Sif's bedroom, leaving the others in the entrance.

"Sif?" Katirya spoke as she knocked on the door.

"Come in," Sif's voice replied.

Katirya entered, discovering Sif sitting on a chair next to the bed. The woman looked exhausted. Katirya crossed over and invited Sif to stand up. "We know you were not responsible. I have a theory…"

"But how did all this blood get here?" Sif wailed, sweeping her hand around the room.

Katirya gazed at the walls. There were still splatters of dried blood upon the walls. She was surprised no one had bothered to clean it up. She made a mental note to order the room be scrubbed completely before Sif returned, then focused on her friend. "We will find out, but someone is playing a horrible trick on you."

"And the dream? It was real!" Sif exclaimed. "I did it. I remember every action."

"Really? You remember everything? Sif, you said it was a dream. Yes, you woke up to find this… this… mess," Katirya's hand pointed to the dried blood, "but that does not mean you did it. We have an idea about this and want you to help us."

Sif considered the offer. "I do not understand…"

"Sif, YOU believed in me. You thought I did not betray Loki and the others. I believe in you. It is as simple as that. Now, enough of this, you are coming with us. We need your help," Katirya grabbed Sif's hand and walked to the door.

As they reached the rest, Sif started to hang back until she heard words of welcome from everyone. She smiled wryly. "I do not know how you can still believe in me, but I hope you are right."

"Sif, you could never have done that. Accept that fact. Now come along, we need your help," Thor replied as he reached out to take her free hand.

Katirya took that moment to move away from Sif, sidling up to Loki. "Shall we now head to the healers? I am certain Eir is going to chastise us for taking so long."

Loki smiled down at her. "Then I shall tell her you are to blame for our lateness."

"Me?" Katirya looked up at him in mock dismay, knowing full well she was the reason. "Well… if you must."

They left Sif's and headed directly to the healers. Entering, they were greeted at once by Eir.

"I am sorry we are late, but I had issues," Katirya offered a quick explanation before anyone else could start with one.

"Understood, my lady," Eir looked with mild concern at Katirya. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nay, until we find Kai, I shall struggle with some things," Katirya admitted. "But do tell, what was of such importance?"

"While we were preparing the bodies of your sister…"

"Half, half-sister," Katirya corrected her.

"Yes, half-sister. That is correct," Eir accepted the correction then went on. "We came upon these unusual medallions on her and her companion." She held out two leather thongs with golden disks hanging from them.

Loki accepted the medallions and looked at them curiously. "Have you ever seen these before?" he asked his wife.

Katirya shook her head. "No, I never saw my sister with that before. What is it? It looks like there is a wheel of sorts engraved on it."

Loki handed one of the medallions around. When Erik took it, he looked up in surprise. "This is an ancient Aztec calendar! Or least, it resembles one. I would need to check it against those on Earth, but I am fairly certain that is what this is."

Darcy peered over his arm to look at the medallion. "You are right! Why would they have this?"

"There are some who believe that the Aztec calendar really tells of alien contact with the ancient culture," Erik replied.

"But, rather than aliens, what if it were someone from here? Or another realm?" Thor offered.

"And maybe it is a clue to where the sixth Stone is!" Darcy said triumphantly.

"That is an awful lot to guess from simply finding these medallions," Loki warned.

"But it must mean something. They were working for Thanos, we know that. And we also know he was searching for the Stones as well. Could it be feasible that he decided this might be a clue?" Katirya asked. She then turned to Eir and suddenly. "Were these being carried by Kyrath and Hadriath? Or were they left with the bodies?"

"They were wearing the medallions when they were slain. That much was obvious when we retrieved the bodies. They were hidden, under their clothing, but they were on them when the murderer started to kill them. Also…" Eir paused a moment.

"What? Is there more?" Thor asked.

"Yes, but it is not pleasant, my lord. Perhaps the ladies might wish to leave?" Eir answered.

"I am staying. She was my half-sister, even if she hated me," Katirya spoke up.

"And I am not about to leave," Darcy broke in.

"I am a warrior, so there is nothing you can tell me that I probably have not seen," Sif added.

"As you wish," Eir nodded. "The murderer was very knowledgeable in killing. They inflicted a wound to the neck," she demonstrated a spot on her neck for them to visualize, then went on. "This wound incapacitated the victim completely. They were fully aware of the mutilations being performed upon their bodies, but could do nothing about it, until they finally died."

Shocked silence fell on the room.

Thor finally broke it. "Was Jane killed this way as well?"

Eir shook her head. "No, but remember, she was in a coma. There was no need to incapacitate her. She did not know what happened to her."

Thor sighed in relief. "That is good to hear." He gestured towards Darcy, Ian and Erik. "We have decided it would be best to return Jane to Earth. Can her body be prepared to transport soon?"

"Of course, I shall see that it is done at once. When did you wish to do this?" Eir asked.

"Later today, if possible," Thor replied.

Suddenly, three healers burst into the room. Seeing the King and his party, they bowed briefly, then stood waiting for Eir to acknowledge them. One moved in agitation, knocking a glass off a table he had been standing next to.

"What is wrong?" Eir asked.

"You need to come, there is a problem with…" the speaker paused, glancing worriedly at Thor.

"With what?" Thor demanded.

"With the body of Jane Foster."

**Author's note:** _Again, thank you to all my readers. I enjoy getting the emails and reviews. _


	3. Chapter 3: Deviations

Chapter 3: Deviations

• _**The Kidnapper **_**•**

Kai finally quieted down, although she knew he was still hungry. She simply did not have anything here to feed him. Annoyed at herself for not thinking that part through, she stared down at the baby, wondering if perhaps she ought to send him back.

"Really? Did you think he would allow you to delay?" Althanas entered the room unannounced.

She whirled around to face him. "What are you doing here?" Her nostrils flared at the interruption, _and _the fact he had snuck in on her.

"Thanos was not exactly thrilled when you did not return directly to him, so he sent me to retrieve you and your, um, package," Althanas replied, glancing around the room until he finally located what he was looking for. "Ah, there it is."

"Yeah, over there. Listen, why don't you just take _it_ then? Save me the trip," she replied. "I've got other issues to deal with right now."

"Sorry," Althanas leered at her. "Thanos wants to see you, so you will have to deal with your _issues _later."

"Well, I'm busy." She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Althanas peered around her, finding the child in the bed. "Where did you find that?"

"It's mine!" she stepped in front of the bed, preventing him from getting any closer.

"Whom did you steal it from?"

"It's a boy, not an 'it'. And he's mine," she replied.

"So who is the father?" he asked.

"Loki," she answered, almost daring him to refute that.

"Loki's son? You and Loki have a son?" Althanas looked at her incredulously. "I do not believe that for one instant. There is no way he would lie with you. He cannot stand the sight of you!"

"You are a liar. Loki loves me." She stuck her nose up in the air as she spoke.

"That is an outright lie. I know for a fact that Loki and his brother are two who have refused to succumb to your wiles. Not to mention Loki has spurned you repeatedly. That is why you so desire a son of Loki's. So whose child is he? What woman did you steal this baby from?" Althanas accused her.

"Loki loves me," she snapped back.

"HA! He would no sooner love you than he would…"

"He would too! This is our son," she cut him off mid-sentence.

"Really? Well, you did an excellent job of hiding the fact you were pregnant. Now, admit the fact that you stole one of Loki's sons. You know that Loki has no interest in you. Your _charms _fail to interest him."

"Okay, so I stole Loki's son. Wait?" She stared at him, suddenly realizing what he had implied. "What do you mean by 'one of Loki's sons'?"

"I would imagine he has slept with at least half the women of Asgard by now. He is, after all, the King. He can pick whomever he wishes," Althanas replied caustically. "Face it, you are the only one who he will not sleep with."

"Get out of here!" she flounced to the door and opened it.

"Sorry, not without you. I just cannot believe you are so mad at the fact that you cannot charm him that you went and stole one of his sons. Would it not have been easier to simply pretend to be someone else? Sleep with him that way?" Althanas jeered.

"I thought about that, but not until after I returned with Kai," she frowned, looking down at the sleeping baby.

"Well, you could always send him back. It's not like you really wanted a child, is it?"

She thought about his comment for a minute. "I _do _want Loki's child. Mine and Loki's."

"Well, this one simply does not meet that criteria, so just return it. You never did say who the mother was?" Althanas prompted her once more.

"It's…" she paused, suddenly reluctant to reveal the fact that Katirya was still alive. Thanos thought Katirya was dead. This might be something she could use later. "It's some silly girl who works for the healers. She wasn't exactly thrilled to find out she was pregnant, but… eh?" she shrugged. "What happens, happens. Loki was happy to have a kid, so he made sure she was well taken care of. She will never miss the brat."

Althanas stared hard at her for a moment, having caught her hesitation in answering. Finally, he appeared to accept her answer. "Brat now, is it? How much do you really want this child?"

She tossed her long, red hair back over her shoulder as she lifted her chin up. "I told you, it is my child now."

"So, have you determined how you intend to feed it?" Althanas asked as Kai started crying once again.

"I will have one of the servants deal with it. Someone is bound to be nursing a child still," she replied.

"On _this _planet?" Althanas roared with laughter. "Your servants are not exactly the type to be having children."

She scrunched her nose up, letting out a puff of air. "Well, they can deal with him. That's what they get paid for."

"Send it back, you do not need it," Althanas knew he was repeating himself, but she was being obstinate.

As if in complete agreement, Kai's screeches reached epic levels, causing her to clamp her hands over her ears. "SHUT UP!" she shrieked.

"Well, then that is decided. Send it back to its mother and we can take your package on to Thanos immediately," Althanas said as Kai quieted down. "See, even it agrees."

"He! It's a boy… and, it's not as simple as that…" she wailed, suddenly reluctant to return Kai. At least, not without causing some further mischief.

"What? You still want to keep it? After that vocal experience?" he looked at her in surprise. "Keeping it means you have to feed it, clean it and take care of it."

Kai chose that moment to scream in hunger again.

"Oh will you just shut up! I will find some food for you," she shouted, storming over to the tiny bed to stare down at the baby.

"Especially feed it. YOU clearly are incapable of feeding him right now, he needs his mother," Althanas pointed that out.

"You are not helping, just… just… be quiet. I need to think," she scowled at him.

"Well, think quick as we are expected back shortly." He wandered over to a table and sat down, drumming his fingers impatiently. "I'm waiting."

"Stop that drumming! You are making it difficult," she complained.

Althanas snorted with laughter. "You? Thinking? You do your best work without thinking," his eyes raked over her voluptuous figure. "I do sometimes wonder why it is Loki and his brother never found your charms appealing…"

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

"What has happened to Jane?" Thor roared as he pushed past the healers and ran down the hallway towards her room, the others following in his wake.

A strong odor of decaying flesh assailed their nostrils as they turned the corner and neared Jane's room. Three healers came stumbling out of her room, gasping for breath.

"What is wrong?" Thor demanded.

One healer paused. Seeing Eir, he focused on her. "I do not know what has happened, but the body…"

Thor pushed the doors of the room open, allowing the scent of decaying flesh to pour out of the room. "What is going on?" He stared at the decomposed body resting on Jane's bed.

Katirya gagged as the smell increased. Loki grabbed her around the waist to keep her from falling. She clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Here, this is scented, it should help," Eir spoke softly, handing the cloth to him.

"Thank you," Loki pressed the cloth to Katirya's hands. She grasped it, inhaling deeply. Her eyes looked up at him gratefully.

The others, having participated in many battles, did not find the stench quite as bad as Katirya did, but even they were struggling to maintain their composure, as the smell was horrible.

"What is it? Do Midgardians decay faster than we do? Their life span is shorter so it would make sense," Volstagg asked.

Eir shook her head. "No, they do not. From the looks of it, she has been dead for at least a week…"

"NO! I was here last night. I have been here every night. She has been alive, you are speaking false," Thor cried out.

"If I may?" one of the healers spoke up.

"Go ahead," Eir encouraged him.

"I believe we have found out what happened to Hlif," he gestured towards the body. "That is not Jane Foster who lies there now."

"WHAT?" Everyone's voice echoed in the small room.

Thor was the first to move. He stepped closer to the bed, peering down at the form. "No, it is not Jane. What has happened to Jane? What have you done with her? She was here just a few hours ago!"

"My lord, we did nothing. We came in here to begin preparations on her body to transport her back to Earth as you requested," the healer replied.

Katirya moaned, the smell beginning to overwhelm her again.

"Let us step into the hall to discuss this. The body is not going anywhere," Loki said, leading his wife out of the room.

Once they reached a spot where the smell was not quite so bad, he stopped. The others gathered around him.

"So, if that is Hlif, where is Jane?" Darcy finally asked. No one could answer her question.

Eir finally rejoined them.

"How long has Hlif been dead?" Thor asked.

"From the looks of the body, she has been dead at least a week," Eir replied.

"But that is impossible! Hlif has been taking care of Kai since Katirya arrived," Sif pointed out.

"Yes, we saw her just a short while ago, at breakfast," Fandral added.

Katirya's body suddenly stiffened, her eyes began to water as she started to cry. "No… no… no…" She turned her head into Loki's body, hiding it. Her shoulders began to shake.

"What is it?" Loki asked her.

She simply shook her head, sobbing uncontrollably now.

"Shhhh, what is it? What is wrong?" Loki tried to quiet her.

Finally she stopped weeping. Raising her head up, she spoke. "Kai was still here, when we saw Jane's body," she swallowed hard, trying not to start crying again. "The shape-shifter. If shape-shifters killed Hlif, the possibility exists that they possess the skills to create an illusion. They made it seem as if it were Jane lying there, newly dead. Instead it was Hlif, and they were posing as Hlif all this time."

"So, why do you say Kai was still here?" Thor asked.

"The illusion, it is gone now. They cannot maintain it from a great distance so now we see the body for who it really is. But Kai…" Katirya started to cry again. "He was still here."

"I promise, we _will _find him," Loki hugged her.

"So, you are saying that what we saw earlier, the body of Jane, wasn't the body of Jane?" Erik asked, trying to comprehend this.

"It does make sense," Thor replied. "Most shape-shifters can create an illusion that can disguise an object. If that is what they did, it would make us think it was Jane lying there, thus hiding their earlier crime. But where did they hide the body of Hlif until now?"

"Does it matter?" Fandral asked. "She has been dead at least a week..." his voice trailed off. "I think I know where it might have been kept."

"Where?" Several voices chorused at once.

"In Hlif's quarters. It is the only place that makes sense. Did Hlif have rooms here or elsewhere in the city?" Fandral asked Eir.

"She has lived with her mother for many years. Her mother left recently to visit family, so Hlif was the only one in the house," Eir answered.

"But," Darcy broke in, "what happened to Jane's body? Could it have been hidden in Hlif's rooms?"

"We must go to check it out!" Thor replied, then looked at Katirya. "And perhaps there will be a clue as to who did this, so we can track them down and bring back Kai."

The group left the healers heading towards Hlif's home. Reaching it, Thor did not bother to knock, simply pushing the door open and entering. A faint scent, reminiscent of the smell in the healer's, greeted them.

"Clearly Hlif's body was stored here," Thor commented as they started to search the premises, pointing to a small pallet that was covered in blood.

"I would venture to say this is where she was murdered," Fandral stooped down to inspect the blood dried on the floor near a chest of drawers.

The house was small, only five rooms total, so it did not take them long to search it completely. Each person brought anything that seemed out of place, and set it down on the table in the living room.

"Well, we know a bit more, but there is no sign of Jane," Darcy's voice came from a back room. She appeared carrying a medallion just like the ones that Kyrath and Hadriath had been wearing. "I did find this."

"So there is a connection back to Thanos," Loki remarked.

"We _think _it is back to Thanos. Until we find him, we cannot know for certain," Katirya corrected him.

"Does anyone think it is possible that Jane is still alive?" Thor finally spoke the words that had been in his mind since he had discovered that the body in Jane's room was not hers.

"If that is the case, she will not survive long without proper medical attention," Eir's voice came from the doorway. "I apologize for interrupting, but I felt you needed to see this," she handed Thor a note.

Thor opened it and read it. His face turned red in anger as his eyes blazed. "They will burn in HEL when I catch them!" His fist pounded into the table, shattering it.


	4. Chapter 4: Revelations

Chapter 4: Revelations

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Loki looked at his brother, curious as to the contents of the note. Walking over to his brother, he asked, "May I see it?"

Thor handed the note to him.

Loki stared it, then looked at Thor. "Interesting." He turned to face Eir. "Where was this found?"

"It was under Hlif's body. I do not believe it was intended to be found."

"That is an understatement!" Loki commented.

"What is it?" Katirya asked. "What does it say?"

"It doesn't say anything. It is just a few images." Loki looked at his brother. "Do you mind if she sees it?"

Thor shrugged. "It is not something I would show a lady…"

Frigga walked over, extending her hand for the paper. "Well, I am your mother, so let me decide that."

Loki quickly obeyed, handing her the paper. Frigga scanned it, her face turning to a frown at once. "This is… despicable!" She looked at Katirya. "Are you certain you wish to see this? I would not advise it."

"If I am to know what is going on, I think I ought to. Unless you plan to keep me in the dark about this, however, this is not something I would advise," Katirya replied quietly.

"Well, that settles it," Loki replied, deciding it was prudent not to anger Katirya.

Loki held it out to Katirya. She took it, and after looking at it, she raised her head to face both brothers. "Interesting, but what does it mean? These appear to be photos, or copies of photos. Can you tell when these were taken?"

"When? Why does that matter?" Thor asked curiously.

Katirya shrugged. "It is possible they were staged, they seem to have been taken here, in Asgard. If you look closely at her eyes, they are not quite 'right'. They appear vacant, so I am thinking they were done after the incident on Niflheim."

"That is a possibility." Frigga had moved next to Katirya to review the paper again. "Kiri is correct about the eyes. If they were taken after she came back here to the healers, it means that our shape-shifter has been here longer than we were aware of the fact. I wonder what else they were doing?"

"What if there was more than one? What if the shape-shifter is a different person entirely from the individual who caused this lastest travesty?" Loki offered, thinking things were getting even more complicated. He took the paper back from Katirya to look at it once more. Something caught his eye, and he stared at it closely.

"Two people?" Thor asked. "That would make a bit more sense. I find it difficult to believe that one person actually was able to haul both Kai and Jane out of here. Could they be working together?"

"And more importantly, are they working for Thanos?" Katirya added.

Loki looked over at his brother, nodding nearly imperceptibly to send him a signal he wished to speak with him alone.

Frigga caught the look, having raised the two, she was well aware of their 'silent signals'. She wondered what Loki wanted, and why he wished to keep Katirya out of it.

"Well, I suppose we can sit down and discuss this better in the library," Frigga said, thinking to give the brothers a chance to speak alone for a few moments.

Katirya smiled. "That would be nice; I am getting tired of just standing here. I do not believe we shall find anything else here." She gestured around Hlif's home.

Eir walked up to Katirya, touching her gently on the elbow. "Why don't you stop by the healers on your way? I do want to give you something."

"Kiri, you head along with Eir. Mother, perhaps you can accompany her?" Loki said. "Volstagg, could you and the others head down to the practice field? From the looks of these pictures, it appears that they were taken down there. Perhaps there are some other clues that were mistakenly left behind."

Volstagg inspected the photo briefly. "Aye, I think I know where it might have been. Fandral, Sif, Hogun - let us go see if we can find anything down there."

Everyone split off heading to their destination with plans to meet up in the library in thirty minutes.

As they walked towards the palace, Loki looked at his brother. "I think I know who did this."

Thor started. "What? Who - How?"

Loki stopped, and then pointed to the picture. "Look closely, right here. What do you see?"

Thor inspected the picture, then sighed. "I missed that."

"It's very small, easy to miss in this picture," Loki said, dismissing his brother's error, "but that dagger is extremely distinctive. There is only one person I know who bears it. I think we need to pay them a visit, don't you?"

Thor nodded. "Agreed."

"But I do not want Kiri to know where we are going – at least, not until we return. If I am correct, we should be able to retrieve Jane and Kai," Loki said. He considered it a moment more before adding. "I'd like Sif and the Warriors Three with us as well. That is why I sent them to the practice field. I doubt they will find anything more than what we have already, but I think we know enough. We know where to start at the very least."

"I will go down there now and we shall meet you at the Bifrost. What are you going to tell Kiri?"

"Nothing, I shall simply let Mother know. She can keep Kiri busy while we are gone. I am hopeful we can be back within a few hours."

"Is that wise?" Thor asked, surprised that Loki was not going to tell his own wife, especially after their most recent issues.

"I do not think she should travel there. If I told her where we were going, she would insist. Mother can tell Kiri after we leave," Loki replied.

"I will tell her what?" Frigga's voice sounded behind them.

Loki shook his head slightly, looking wryly at his mother. "I ought to have known you would realize we were up to something."

"I raised you, remember?" she replied archly.

Loki quickly outlined their plan. Frigga looked at the two brothers. "Are you sure it is wise to take on this person alone?"

"We are taking Sif and the Warriors Three with us," Thor replied.

"I would leave the Warriors Three behind. They will be useless if your _friend _decides to try her charms on them. Sif, on the other hand, will be safe," Frigga pointed out, reminding Loki of the skills their target possessed. "Remember who you are dealing with, she is no ordinary female. She has worked to enhance her feminine wiles and few men are safe around her."

Loki considered Frigga's comments and then looked at Thor. "She is correct. The Warriors Three might be more of a hindrance than a help. We shall just take Sif. Hopefully we will be back before Kiri realizes we are even gone."

"I wish you both luck then," Frigga replied. "I shall try to keep Kiri busy for a bit, but if you are gone more than a few hours, it might be a struggle."

• •_**Frigga•**__**•**_

Frigga watched as her sons departed. She was hopeful they would be successful in at least retrieving Kai. Jane was another matter. There was no indication that the woman still lived. She had mixed feelings about Jane Foster. She did not hate her, and wished her no ill, but at the same time she disliked the woman for distracting Thor. She sighed softly to herself, knowing there was nothing she could do to change Thor's feelings. Any interference on her part would only cement the relationship, if Jane survived this. Katirya had indicated she could probably help the human, but they would face that hurdle when they found her.

She walked quietly to the healers. As she entered, she saw Eir and Katirya seated at a table talking.

"Now, my lady, I do not want you overdoing anything. It is twins you carry this time," Eir advised Katirya.

Katirya pouted, then noticed Frigga's entrance. "Ah, there you are. I had wondered where you wandered off to. I insist you tell Eir that I shall be fine. I managed quite well the first time."

Frigga joined them at the table. "That is true, but I believe Eir is correct. Twins are more taxing; plus, you have all the resources available to you here in Asgard that you did not have on Earth. Take advantage of them."

"So, what took you so long to get here?" Katirya pressed the issue.

"I saw an old friend, and stopped to chat with her for a few moments," Frigga said, making up a quick excuse.

Katirya seemed to drop the subject as she looked at the herbs Eir was giving her. "Do I really need to take these? They smell awful!" She pinched her nose as an added effect.

Frigga looked closely at Katirya, noticing the strain evident on her face. Frigga knew the kidnapping had impacted her severely, and quite frankly, she did not know how Katirya was maintaining her façade of calm. Eir had clearly noticed it as well, for Frigga recognized the blend of herbs as one that was known for its calming effects.

"If you mix them up and drink them as a tea, you shall hardly notice the scent," Eir assured her. "Now, I want you to visit me daily…"

"Daily?" Katirya wailed. "Why? I managed quite well with no one in attendance except for Frigga when I was on Earth."

"Kiri, Eir is simply being cautious. Just because we did not have access to the wonderful staff on Asgard does not mean you should ignore it now…"

"But I had no problems with Kai!" As she spoke her son's name, Katirya broke down in tears once more. She buried her face in her palms, sobbing quietly.

Frigga moved closer to Katirya, putting her arms around her. "Kiri, we will find him. You must believe in that."

Eir rose, returning shortly with a cup of hot tea. "Here, this might help."

Katirya accepted the drink, taking a sip, she sighed softly. "I just worry about him. He is only a baby. WHY would someone want to take him?"

Frigga took Katirya's free hand and squeezed it gently. "He will return."

"I hope you are correct." Katirya finished the tea, setting the cup down on the table. "I suppose those are the herbs you are giving me?"

Eir nodded. "Indeed. They have a nice calming effect."

"I do feel a little better," Katirya admitted, picking up the packet of herbs. "Well, let us head to the library and meet with the others. We have so much to figure out. I wish we had some idea who it was that took Kai… and Jane," she added the mortal's name as an afterthought.

Frigga wondered how she could stall, then decided it might be best to go to the library and allow Katirya to discover that Loki and Thor had taken off. She just wasn't sure she was ready for that storm. She glanced across at Eir. "Why don't you join us also? Jane was under your care for over a year."

The three ladies departed, heading towards the library. Frigga purposely chose the longest way to get there. "I want to stop by the kitchens, check with Magda about dinner tonight, if you do not mind?"

Katirya shrugged. "Certainly, perhaps she has some cookies. I am hungry."

Frigga laughed as they entered the kitchens, watching as Katirya scanned the room until she spotted Magda and several of the cooks, and then dashed off to speak to them.

Eir took advantage of the opportunity to speak to her. "My lady, you were with her when she was pregnant with Kai, were you not?" When Frigga nodded, she went on. "I wonder, was she excitable? Stressed?"

Frigga considered the question before responding. "She was difficult. I put it down to the incident on Niflheim. Why do you ask?"

"Well, she is a daughter of an Elder. Her powers have never truly been tested. Kai has already shown tendencies for great magic, so I expect the twins will as well. I believe, from my observations of her so far, that when she is stressed it impacts the unborn children. They react causing her more stress."

"That is an interesting observation. And…" Frigga paused before going on. "It does rather explain some of her odd tendencies during her first pregnancy."

"What did you consider 'odd'?" Eir asked.

"Her complete dislike of staying with her father. She complained that his collection disturbed her. I realize it is an unusual assortment of creatures, but for the most part they were harmless. Oh, and one more thing. She would become extremely agitated when Carina, Taneleer's personal servant, was around."

"How agitated did she become?" Eir asked, clearly hoping to get more details.

"Enough that anything she ate did not stay down, and she remained awake at night for hours, pacing her rooms. I simply put it down simply to the pregnancy, but it stopped as soon as we moved to Earth," Frigga replied, realizing she had not considered the changes once they had left Taneleer's place. She couldn't consider it a home, as it resembled a museum more than anything. It was a strange place, and she had been glad when Katirya had insisted they must leave.

"I believe my theory is correct. I did a bit of research, but there are few individuals like Kiri. It is why I made up that herbal mixture for her. It should help to calm her in normal circumstances, but this is not what I would call normal," Eir explained.

Frigga nudged Eir, pointing towards where Katirya was still chatting with the cooks. The two women smiled as they saw one girl disappear for a minute, returning with a basket filled with fresh fruit and several cookies. "At least she hasn't lost her appetite yet."

"Twins," Eir laughed as she saw the exchange.

Frigga suddenly realized something. "That does explain why Kiri was so reluctant to return here. The stress, having to face Loki… she was so completely focused on not returning, it bordered on obsession."

Eir nodded her head as she thought about this aspect "That could be the case. It does make sense. You did say she only came back because the Lady Sif insisted, correct?"

"Yes, when Sif and the others arrived, she finally agreed to return. Of course, Kai had been born by then. Do you believe that connection ends after the birth?" Frigga inquired.

"Yes, as the child becomes its own entity. There will always be the bond between mother and child, but I think the powers that each have is an unusual situation during the pregnancy. I do hope Kai is found soon. The stress could be more than she can handle, even with my help," Eir added.

Frigga checked to see where Katirya was before answering. "Loki had a good idea who kidnapped Kai. He has gone with Thor and Sif to see if they can bring him back. It is one reason I took the long way back to the library. The longer I can delay Kiri discovering he has left, the better."

At that moment, Katirya finished her conversation with the cooks and walked towards Frigga and Eir. "Dinner shall be fabulous, and Magda has given me a snack to get me through." Her face suddenly clouded over. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It will be a full day since Kai has been gone by then." Her eyes opened, glistening with unshed tears. "We must go to the library. They will wonder what has taken us so long."

**Author's note**: Once again, thank you for all the lovely reviews. I do hope you are continuing to enjoy this story (series). Please review if you feel so inclined. And if you have thoughts or suggestions, drop me a PM.


	5. Chapter 5: Tempest

Chapter 5: Tempest

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya peeked inside the basket the cooks had given her. Grinning, she selected an apple and took a bite. A bit of juice dribbled down her chin, which she quickly wiped with the back of her free hand. She held out the basket to Eir and Frigga. "Would you like something?"

Both women shook their heads, laughing slightly.

"Well, I am eating for three," Katirya replied, then thought of Kai. That sobered her mood once again.

"Kiri, we will find him. You must not worry," Frigga put her arm around Katirya's waist, giving her a hug as they walked towards the library. Frigga glanced at the healer, wondering if she should share what Eir had just told her.

Eir nodded. "I think you should."

"Should what?" Katirya asked, looked perplexed.

"Eir was telling me a theory she has. And it rather makes a bit of sense," Frigga began.

"Theory about what?" Katirya asked curiously.

"You, actually," Eir replied.

"Me?" Katirya stopped walking to stare at the two women. "You were talking about me?" Her eyes flashed angrily.

"Do not get mad. It will only cause you get to get upset again," Frigga said in warning. "And yes, we were discussing you. Eir feels… well…" she glanced at Eir helplessly, trying to think of a good way to explain the theory.

Eir stepped up to explain. "I believe, my lady, given that you are a daughter of an Elder, your powers struggle to mesh with the powers of your unborn child… or in this case – children."

"What?" Katirya looked at her in bewilderment. "What does it matter that my father was Taneleer?"

"Your powers are great, my lady. Your children's powers will also be strong. It is almost like there is a struggle for power within you while you are pregnant," Eir explained.

"Eir asked me what your first pregnancy was like. Remember how upset you were when we stayed with your father? You could barely eat or sleep," Frigga said, trying to offer some examples.

"I thought you said that was common for most women," Katirya replied.

"Well… yes and no," Frigga vacillated. "It is common, but not for as long as it went on with you. And your insistence that we could not return to Asgard – it was a fixation on your part."

Katirya considered her reply for a bit, "So, you are saying that my pregnancy is different than others'?"

Eir nodded. "Indeed. I feel that if you become stressed or anxious, it is transmitted to the womb. The unborn child senses it and struggles to control the anxiety. Since you are not aware of this struggle, it simply makes you more agitated. It is like a vicious cycle and if I am correct, then the calmer you remain, the easier your pregnancy will be. It is why I made up that herbal mixture for you."

Katirya considered the theory for a few moments. She sighed heavily. "If you are correct, then I am in for some issues until we find Kai."

"I am fairly certain I am correct. I have been observing you since you returned, and I took the liberty of doing some research," Eir stated.

"Research? For what purpose?" Katirya turned on Eir, feeling slightly panicked.

Eir grinned. "I anticipated that you and the King would make up. At least, I was extremely hopeful you would. I took some time to conduct some research on the topic as I figured you would eventually have more children together, although I frankly did not expect it to happen quite so soon."

Katirya blushed. "Well, you were correct about that, so I shall suppose your theory is also accurate." She took the bag of herbs out of the basket where she had placed it. "And you believe these will help?"

Eir simply nodded.

Katirya sighed. "Well, they did not taste too awful in that tea, so I suppose I can take them."

"And I wish for you to visit me on a daily basis," Eir added quickly as they resumed their walk to the library.

As they entered the library, Katirya was quick to note the absence of both her husband and Thor.

Frigga spoke up. "Has anyone seen Volstagg?"

"He is right over there." Katirya pointed to the warrior who was seated by the fireplace with Fandral and Hogun. "But Loki and Thor are missing. I thought you were to go to the practice fields?" she addressed Volstagg directly, moving towards the fireplace.

"I did, my Queen. But then Thor…"

"Said to come back here, right?" Frigga finished brightly.

"Uh, yes. Come back here," Volstagg looked at Frigga oddly.

Katirya caught the look. "Where are they?" she demanded.

"They were headed for…" Volstagg paused, uncertain what to say. "Actually, I do not know where they were going. They did not say, other than to tell us to return here as we needed to discuss a plan of action."

"Someone must know where they were headed. Hogun? Fandral?" Katirya returned to her initial question.

Both men shrugged, shaking their heads.

She was starting to get suspicious that everyone was keeping something from her. Her eyes started to move from one person to the next as she tried to read their minds.

"Kiri, have you been teaching Kai some simple magic?" Frigga asked, attempting to distract her.

Katirya blinked at the query. "Why, yes. He shows an aptitude. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Frigga breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had averted the issue.

Katirya's eyes narrowed, beginning to turn a silvery color. She stared hard at Frigga. When she realized that she would learn nothing there, she turned her attention once more on Volstagg. The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Kiri, stop that!" Frigga said.

"Lorelei!" Katirya whirled to face Frigga. "You were hiding that from me. WHY?"

"Kiri, calm down…"

"Calm down? DO you know who that woman is? What she is capable of? And to allow Thor and Loki to go there with only Sif?" Katirya started pacing back and forth.

"Loki is safe from her. Her charms fail on him. Thor has learned his lesson after one encounter with her." Frigga's voice was calm as she spoke. "With Sif along, I am certain they will be back shortly with Kai."

"You do not know her like I do! She has focused all her learning on trying to charm men, and she has always wanted your sons. She will stop at nothing to get them, and you allowed them to just walk into her lair?" Without warning, Katirya took off, running out of the library.

"Kiri! Wait!" Frigga shouted. Her words fell on empty space. "We need to stop her!" The group gathered in the library took off after Katirya. As they exited the palace, they saw her running in the general direction of the bridge to the Bifrost.

Katirya raced through the streets, heading for the stables closest to the bridge. Just as she reached them, a horse was being led out for one of the many messengers that worked within Asgard. She pushed past the messenger, grabbed the reins and mounted the horse. Kicking the horse's sides, she headed towards the Bifrost at a gallop.

Once she reached the outer chambers, she stopped the horse. A boy ran out to grab the reins as she slipped off. Ignoring him, she stormed into the chambers. "HEIMDALL!"

"Yes, my Queen?" Heimdall's deep voice resonated throughout the chamber.

"I need to go where Loki went," she demanded.

"I am sorry, my Queen, but the King forbade me to allow anyone to leave until he returned," Heimdall replied.

"I do not care what he said, I am your Queen and you will send me to Lorelei's at once!"

"Kiri, stop this nonsense. Loki will be fine." Frigga's voice came from behind Katirya.

Katirya whirled around, seeing that Frigga and the others had caught up to her. "I do not believe you…"

"Kiri, you need to calm down. Remember what we talked about?" Frigga spoke gently.

"Calm down? How is one supposed to calm down when they know their husband has gone to visit one of the most vile creatures in the universe?" Without warning, Katirya's eyes suddenly rolled upwards, and she gasped. Placing her hands to her temples, she closed her eyes and collapsed to the floor in a faint.

Fandral was the first to reach her. Picking her up, he carried her over to a bench and laid her upon it. Eir stepped to her side, checking her over. "She should be fine. Hopefully when she comes to, she will have calmed down somewhat. Heimdall?" She looked at the Sentry. "How long ago did Loki and Thor leave?"

"About an hour ago." He looked out into the universe for a moment then added. "They are almost ready to return."

Frigga let out a sigh of relief. "And Kai?"

"I cannot see him," the sentry replied.

• _**The Kidnapper **_**•**

The screaming had ceased and the room was blissfully silent. Lorelei sighed softly. "Finally," she whispered. "You really are more trouble than you are worth."

She walked over to the little bed and bent to pick up the infant. Kai awoke the instant her hands touched him. A sudden burning sensation assailed her hands. She let go of the baby, allowing him to settle back in the blankets, and stared at her hands. They were blistering; they throbbed where she had touched him, as if they were on fire. "Damn you!" she hissed. She glared down at the baby, who had turned a light shade of blue, indicative of his Jotun heritage. She looked back at her hands again, confused.

She heard a sound behind her. For the second time that day, she whirled around to discover someone had managed to slip in and surprise her again.

"I really need to put a bell on that door," she muttered under her breath as she stared at Loki, tucking her injured hands behind her back.

Loki was standing just inside the door, his arms crossed in front of him. He was staring intensely at her. "I am sorry, what did you say?"

"I said, I am so glad to see you again," she said brightly, putting on her most brilliant smile. "I must say, this is rather a surprise."

"Really?" Loki's gaze darted to the tiny bed where Kai was finally sleeping.

She ignored his gaze, asking instead, "Have you come to take me up on my offer finally?"

"No," Loki replied tersely.

"Oh, really?" She sashayed across the room, coming to stand directly in front of him. "Come on," she purred, "you know you will love it."

"No."

She wrinkled her nose. "Seriously, I do not understand what you see in that milquetoast wife of yours. I can offer you so much more." She wrapped her arms around his waist, wincing slightly as her blistered hands touched his leather jacket. She was as tall as he was, so she was staring directly into his eyes, trying her best to charm him. She pushed her body suggestively against his.

Loki remained impassive to her charms, slowly removing her arms from his waist. "I would not recommend calling Katirya '_milquetoast'_ in her presence. At least, not if you enjoy life. In fact, you ought to be happy it is I who came to pick up Kai and not her."

"Oh, pooh. She is a simpering miss. I honestly do not understand what you see in her." Ignoring the pain, she placed her hands on his shoulders now, and slowly began to run them down his body. He caught her hands, transferring them both to one hand. She heard a "snick" and looked down to see he had placed a set of handcuffs on them.

"If you only knew," he replied as he pushed her away, striding over to his son he inspected him carefully. Seeing no harm had come to him, he glanced briefly at Lorelei who was now scowling at him. "I see Kai has learned a few tricks already."

She spat at his feet. "Brat!"

Loki shook his head, "Now… now… best to watch your temper. No telling what else he might do. And just imagine what his mother would do to you. As I said, you are lucky it was me that came for him."

Lorelei started rubbing her palms together. The blisters had broken open, and her hands were itching. "Lucky? Ha!"

"Where is Jane?"

"Jane who?"

"Jane Foster. And whom are you working for? I cannot imagine you have any use for her." Loki prodded her with his toe. "Get up. We are leaving here." He walked back over to the bed and picked up his son. Kai started to gurgle happily when he recognized his father.

"I am going nowhere with you," Lorelei snarled.

"I beg to differ with you. Now get up, or…"

Sif entered the room. "We have found Jane!" When she saw the woman sitting handcuffed on the floor, she laughed. "Do we really want to bring her back with us?"

"We must, unfortunately. I cannot afford to leave her here, although…" Loki paused as he considered the alternative. "It is possible that whomever she is working for might not be too happy with her if he shows up to discover only Lorelei here and her prizes gone." With a grin, he handed Kai to Sif. "I shall go help Thor, bring him along with and lock the door. We shall leave her here after all."

"Wait!" Lorelei shouted as they left the room, locking the door. Her voice fell on the now empty room.


	6. Chapter 6: Reclamation

Chapter 6: Reclamation

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

"I want to speak with Lorelei alone," Loki said, the instant they arrived.

Thor offered a wry smile. "Good luck, then. Sif and I shall inspect the rest of the premises. Be careful."

Loki quirked a smile in return. "I always am, _especially_ around her."

Thor and Sif walked silently through the hallways. At each door, they carefully opened it and looked inside.

Sif was slightly ahead as they reached one crossway. She peered around a corner, and as Thor walked past her, she grabbed his elbow hauling him back. Putting her fingers to her lips, she mouthed 'Althanas'.

Nodding, he cautiously looked into the corridor. He sighted Althanas half-carrying someone.

Sif had joined him as he followed Althanas through the corridors. Althanas clearly was not aware of them as he walked, complaining the entire time and making no attempt to be quiet.

"I do wish you would wake up fully. What did my stupid brother do to you in the first place?" Althanas jostled his burden, pushing it up against a wall as he came to a stop. "Stay here." Letting go of the body, he sat down. "You weigh a ton," he grumbled, adding to the litany of complaints he'd been hurling at the limp figure.

Thor looked closely at the body. It was Jane Foster! He stared at her, searching for signs of life. Ever so slightly, her chest rose and fell.

She was still alive.

Thor started forward, his dagger drawn, prepared to kill Althanas.

Sif grabbed his arm, holding him back, as Jane's body slumped to the floor. "No, not now," she whispered, pointing at Althanas. "He has magic, remember that. We do not."

Realizing that she was correct, he waited patiently, watching the man.

"Go get Loki," he whispered quietly. "Let him know we have found Jane."

Sif nodded and left.

He leaned against the wall, waiting for Sif and Loki to return. His eyes remained on Althanas, and he watched him kneel down next to Jane. Thor tensed up, prepared to attack with or without backup if the man tried anything obscene. The Cartherion placed his palms on Jane's forehead and spoke softly. Jane stirred slightly.

A very slight noise alerted him to the return of Sif and Loki. He turned to see Sif carrying Kai. A sense of relief washed over him as he saw the baby. He flashed a grin at his brother, then pointed towards their target. He had barely kept his fury in check as he'd watched Althanas doing whatever it was to Jane. Now he was truly ready to kill the man. Nodding to his companions, he moved forward.

Quietly, Thor and Loki split up and advanced on Althanas. Sif remained behind holding Kai, keeping him quiet. The infant seemed to sense the importance of the moment, as he remained silent.

Althanas was so intent on what he was doing to Jane he did not hear them approach.

"Good day," Loki said, his cold voice belying the greeting.

Hearing Loki's voice, Althanas twisted around, grabbing for his dagger.

"I would not suggest that," Thor said, his voice deadly.

It was almost too easy, Thor thought, as they captured the man. Althanas had not put up any fight, simply dropping his dagger. Thor shot a glance at his brother.

"Smart move," Loki said. "Sif, did you bring some handcuffs along with?"

Sif nodded; handing Kai over to Loki, she quickly secured Althanas, then took the infant back.

Thor turned his attention to Jane.

He knelt down next to her, rolling her over. Spittle dribbled out of one corner of her mouth. "Jane?" he whispered softly.

Jane groaned softly. "Go away. It's too early to get up."

"Jane, wake up." Thor shook her gently. He glanced over at Loki, his eyes brilliant with happiness. Jane was alive and talking!

Jane's eyes flew open at his words. She stared up at him for one second, then opened her mouth and screamed. "Oh my god! Who are you? Let me go! Get away from me!" Her hands balled into fists and began pummeling his chest.

"Jane. Stop it! It's me, Thor."

Jane continued to scream, rolling away from Thor. She tried to stand up, but her legs were too weak, and she collapsed. She glared at Thor. "I don't know who you are, but get away from me!" She scrabbled away from him only to bump into Loki. She shrieked. "All of you! Get away! Leave me alone!"

"Jane…"

"Get away." She struggled to stand once more. Her eyes suddenly rolled up in their sockets, then closed as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Thor knelt next to Jane and looked her over as best he could. "She does not appear wounded, but what is wrong with her?"

"Remember, Kiri did say that it was possible that restoring her mind might affect her," Loki said softly.

"Althanas!" Thor rose and stalked over to the man. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing!" Althanas spat at Thor's feet.

Thor reached down, grabbing the prisoner by the neck. Lifting him up, he stared him in the eyes. Althanas' feet dangled in the air. "Nothing? She was not speaking until you touched her just now."

"Figure it out yourself, you big oaf. Now put me down." Althanas aimed a kick at Thor who simply tossed him away from him. The prisoner landed on the floor with a grunt.

"I would hazard a guess he attempted to do what Kiri was going to try. Since she did not recognize any of us, I would say he somehow managed to erase her memory," Loki said.

"AAAAHHHH!" Jane screamed, waking up and clamping her hands to the top of her head.

"Ah, she revives," Loki pointed out unnecessarily. "Well, that should make it easier to bring her back with us."

She stared at Thor and Loki. "I know you both, you are evil!" Jane shouted from where she lay. "And I am not going anywhere with you."

"Jane, I believe you have no choice. It's either that or remain here. I do not think you will like who will show up shortly," Sif said, reminding them that sooner or later Thanos was bound to send someone to see what was going on.

"How do you know my name?" Jane demanded, continuing to glare at them.

Loki ignored her question. "Well, it appears we have found everything we came looking for. Let us return at once."

"Didn't you hear me? I'm not going anywhere with you, any of you!" Jane repeated. "I told you, I know who you are; you are a criminal."

"Well, it seems you have regained some memories, although perhaps not the correct ones," Loki replied.

"I have the correct ones. HE told me who you were, the evil deeds you have done," Jane accused Loki. "And you are no better. You tried to kill me, didn't you?" She addressed Thor.

"Well, we all know how well Thanos loves us, so I am not surprised he made up tales of our exploits," Loki replied.

"He didn't have to, you tried to destroy Earth with your friends," Jane accused Loki.

"Did he happen to mention he was the one who sent me? And provided those, um, _friends?_" Loki hissed. When Jane did not respond, he added. "I thought not. So, I will admit, my past is not perfect but now that I am free of _him _I think I can honestly say my life has been infinitely better. You might want to consider that. Was he good to you? Or did he, perhaps, harm you?"

Jane's face whitened, "He… he…" Her mouth remained open with no words forthcoming. As memories came flooding back of the atrocities that Thanos had committed upon her body, she lapsed back into unconsciousness.

"Well, while that is unfortunate, it will make it easier to take her back with us to Asgard," Loki stated.

"Unfortunate?" Thor roared. "How could you do that to her?"

"Do what? Return her memories? I did not, obviously, Althanas brought her back to this present, _with _those memories from her time with Thanos. Kiri warned if that happened, the memories could cause her great harm," Loki reminded his brother.

Thor breathed heavily for several moments, reining in his anger at his brother. He finally calmed himself. "You are right. She did warn us. Do you think Kiri can still help? Or Eir?" Thor asked hopefully.

"I truly do not know. We can only hope she can undo the damage that Althanas has done," Loki walked over to their prisoner. Staring down at the man, he asked. "So, where is Thanos?"

"You will never find him until he _wants _to be found," Althanas snarled.

"Well that was really helpful," Loki said wryly, then turned to face his brother. "I think we ought to bring both of these miscreants back. The less information they can relay back to Thanos, the better."

Thor asked. "Do you think that is safe? What about Kiri?"

"I am certain I would be in more trouble were I not to bring them along," Loki replied, with a chuckle.

Thor nodded and left to collect Lorelei.

"Well, well, well," Lorelei purred as soon as she saw who had come to get her. "Look who is here now."

"Leave it! Your words have no hold over me anymore," Thor barked.

Lorelei pouted, then looked up at him with a seductive smile. "Thor, we had such a good thing going there, too. Why did you leave? We can just pick up where we left off."

"We left off with me leaving. Now, let us go." He reached down and grabbed both her cuffed hands in one of his. Dragging her to her feet, he jerked her along as he returned to where Loki and Sif waited.

"Shall we?" Loki asked.

Thor nodded, releasing Lorelei, he bent down to pick Jane up in his arms.

Loki pushed Lorelei down next to Althanas. "Stay there, if you wish to continue to live."

"Fool! You do not know who you are up against!" She snarled back at him.

"Heimdall!" Loki's voice rang out, calling the sentry to return them back to Asgard. Within seconds, the rainbow effect of the Bifrost began to surround them.

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

They arrived in the Bifrost chamber seconds later. Loki looked towards Heimdall, "Thank…" His words were stopped by the impact of someone hurtling into him. He staggered backwards, bumping into Thor. He felt Thor's shoulder pushing into his back, helping him to maintain his footing. His hand moved to his dagger as he looked down to see what had hit him, only to find it was his wife. "Ah, hello darling. Missed me?"

"Oh my goodness! You survived! I have been so worried since I discovered that you were gone. Frigga tried to keep me from finding out, but I did… and you survived!" Katirya babbled excitedly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Did you expect anything less?" Loki asked drolly, a smile creasing his lips.

"But, it was Lorelei, wasn't it?" Katirya was holding him as if her life depended upon it, her breathing ragged.

Loki looked over the top of her head, sighting his mother. He looked quizzically at her. '_What is wrong with her?' _he mouthed.

"I will explain later," Frigga said in response to his look, then added cryptically, "but it is partially your fault."

"Yes, it was Lorelei. And you have not even greeted our son," Loki admonished her as he kissed her.

"Kai? You found him?" Katirya said once the kiss ended.

"Of course. You did not expect me to return without him, did you?" Loki nodded towards Sif, who was holding their son.

Katirya reached one arm out towards Kai.

Loki grinned, noting that Katirya was not about to leave his side, but wanted her son nonetheless. Sif obliged, handing the child over to his mother.

Kai started to cry, until he looked up to the familiar face of his mother. The instant Katirya had him in her arms, he hungrily sought out the nourishment that he'd wanted for the past twenty-four hours.

Loki watched as his son nursed. He held her closely, realizing he was content. It was not a feeling he was accustomed to.

Thor cleared his throat behind him, reminding him that he was still standing there.

Loki glanced at his brother. "You need one of these, brother." He kissed Katirya on the top of her head. "Eir? Can you see to Jane for now?" Loki asked.

"She was conscious when we found her, but she did not recognize me at first," Thor explained, as the healer came over.

"Kiri? Why do we not sit down?" Loki asked while Eir and Thor fussed over Jane.

"Sit down?" Katirya looked up at him, clearly confused by his request.

"Yes, you are barely standing on your own. Is something wrong?" Loki asked, concern tingeing his voice. He had been supporting almost all her weight once she'd crashed into him.

"No. At least I do not think so," she replied, as he guided her to a bench. Once Kai had finished nursing, she leaned against Loki. "Do not do that again."

"Do what?" Loki asked.

"Take off without telling me what you are doing," Katirya replied.

"Hmmm, I will try to remember that in the future," Loki replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"What?" Katirya asked. "It's not the same as what I did..." Her voice trailed off a few moments before she went on. "Well, I guess it is. Shall we call it even then?"

Loki chuckled. "Even. But can you see if you can help Jane? Althanas revived her to what seems to be the present, based on her reactions before she passed out."

"I can try. I made no promises before, and now… with her mind restored, it is possible that I cannot do anything." Katirya sat up, and he could feel strength beginning to flow back in her.

Loki glanced quickly over at Frigga, who was standing close to the Warriors Three, preventing them from getting any closer to Lorelei than they already were. He noticed they were starting to look longingly at the woman.

"Guards!" Loki's shout reverberated in the chamber.

Several guards entered the chamber, and he motioned towards their prisoners.

"Muzzle that one," Loki pointed to Lorelei.

"Get away from me!" Lorelei hissed, kicking out with her feet as she tried to knock the man over, breaking the spell she had been creating over the Warriors Three.

The Warriors Three stepped over to assist the guards, quickly subduing the woman and putting the muzzle over her mouth.

"Take them down to the prisons. Make sure no one goes near that one." Loki pointed to Lorelei, who shot daggers at him with her eyes.

As the guards hustled Althanas and Lorelei out of the Bifrost chambers, the others gathered around the party that had just returned.

"Why?" Volstagg finally asked.

"Why what? Take Kai? Attempt to restore Jane?" Loki shrugged.

Hogun nodded. "Kai we understand, well… sort of." His gaze traveled to the ground, not meeting Loki's eyes.

"I know; she has always wanted me. It made sense in her twisted mind, but she quickly discovered that a baby is not the easiest person to care for," Loki replied. "I think Jane was their main target. Kai was an afterthought, a way to get back at me. _That_ was personal. I also got the impression that they had no intention of returning Jane to Thanos, did you?" he asked his brother.

"What? You do not believe they intended to send Jane back to Thanos? I had not considered that. What would be the reason?" Thor looked at his brother, curious about what he was thinking.

"Imagine this. You have both Kai and Jane, people we would definitely want back. Why not try to sell them to the highest bidder? If they had intended to do as they had been instructed, Jane would never have been at Lorelei's."

"That is, of course, assuming Thanos still lives. It has been over a year since he was last seen," Volstagg pointed out.

"True, but I have a feeling he still lives. He is just biding his time," Katirya said. "I know he was gravely injured, but I do not believe I killed him."

"What is he waiting for?" Volstagg asked.

Loki realized that the warrior was just that – a warrior. He did not think like Thanos. To Thanos, it was a cat and mouse game, and he felt like he was the cat – in control.

"I think he is trying to find out as much about us as he can. And the less he knows, the better," Loki pointed to the doorway through which Lorelei and Althanas had just gone through. "Those two managed to murder Kryath and Hadriath, right under our noses. They were running tame through Asgard and we could not detect them. Now WE have them and Thanos has no clue yet that Katirya still lives."

"And we have five of the Stones," Katirya added with a smile. 


	7. Chapter 7: Speculation

Chapter 7: Speculation

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Katirya smiled wearily, still holding Kai close as they entered the city. "I am rather tired. Would you mind if I went and took a short nap?"

Loki shook his head. "No, that sounds like a good idea. In fact, I might join you in a bit," he added with a twinkle in his eye.

"Do that!" she replied, then swatted playfully at him with her free hand.

They reached their chambers, and he escorted her in. "I shall return shortly. Tomorrow we shall evaluate what we can do to help Jane Foster.

Katirya nodded as she settled Kai into his tiny bed.

"One question before I go. Our son – does he have any powers that you are aware of yet?" Loki asked, recalling the reaction Lorelei had when she had attempted to pick up the infant.

"Indeed, he does," Katirya replied. "But I had anticipated that, given who our parents are. I have been watching him closely and starting to teach him a few simple tricks. There is one thing I did notice, though. When he is angry, he gets very hot. I found that odd, it doesn't make sense as neither of us can do that. It is something I want to look into. I keep forgetting to ask Frigga about that. Perhaps she might know."

"I had intended to speak to Mother, so I shall ask her myself. I promise to relay the answer when I return," Loki said. "Now, go take that nap."

Loki took his leave, seeking out his mother. Finding her in the one of the sitting rooms, he sat down next to her. "So, what is wrong with my wife?"

"Nothing is exactly _wrong,_" Frigga quickly explained what Eir had deduced about Katirya.

"Interesting," Loki replied thoughtfully. "So, you noticed odd behavior when she was pregnant with Kai?"

"Yes, it was the primary reason we left her father's. The collection disturbed her. If Eir is correct, ideally we need to keep things here as calm as possible, especially since she carries twins this time."

"Calm?" Loki laughed. "Nothing has been calm since she has arrived in Asgard. I do admit that it would be wonderful; unfortunately, I cannot control the outside world. Perhaps we will continue to be lucky and Thanos will remain in hiding for another year."

"We shall hope that is the case. I will remain here if you like," Frigga offered.

"Please! You cannot leave," Loki implored his mother. "Katirya would be lost without you. Now we just need to find a replacement for Hlif. I am sorry she was a casualty of this latest fiasco. I also need to discover how Lorelei and Althanas managed to remain hidden for so long in Asgard."

"It is not for lack of security. You clearly have spent the past year upgrading the guards and troops. I can see it as I walk around the city," Frigga replied.

"Well, that was no good in terms of Lorelei and Althanas," Loki said ruefully.

"Remember, they have powers as well, so it is quite possible they were able to hide. We were able to hide Katirya when we first arrived as well."

Loki frowned, recalling that incident. "Indeed. I suppose it is possible. I wonder… there must be a way to detect that. I will bring it up with Kiri tonight. She might have an answer. Which brings up another issue – Kai."

"Kai?" Frigga looked at him with a puzzled look. "Is something wrong? Did Lorelei manage to do something to him?"

"No, no, nothing like that. In fact, I think he managed to do _something_ to Lorelei," Loki replied with a chuckle. "Kiri has noticed that when Kai gets angry, he gets very hot. That aligns with what I saw when we found Lorelei. She was attempting to pick Kai up, but dropped him back onto the bed. I saw her hands were blistered, as if she had tried to pick up something that was hot… or burning. Kiri finds it surprising that he has that ability, given both our parents. Do you have any thoughts on it?"

Frigga considered his question thoughtfully. "Honestly, no. Your mother was Jotun, and Odin was half-Jotun, so that is the exact opposite of heat. Beythran was a Cartherion, and while she was known for her powers, that was not one I was aware of. Her powers were one of the reasons I sought her out many years ago, to learn magic."

"I never knew that was why you chose to visit her. I have you and her to thank for my abilities," Loki replied.

"I have noticed since your marriage, but you have grown far stronger than I ever was. Kiri brings that out in you," Frigga replied.

"And the Stones. We discovered that we both can use them, channel their energy together."

"Interesting. You will make a formidable leader for Asgard," Frigga said. "But back to your question, that only leave Kiri's father, Taneleer. I do not think much is known about him. I think your father had several histories in his rooms. I will try to find them this afternoon. They might shed some light on the Elders."

"Thank you," Loki rose. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to find my brother. I expect he is at the healer's, with Jane."

Frigga frowned. "Yes, most likely. There are times I wish your father had not sent him to Earth."

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Feeling something tickling her nose, Katirya swatted at it, coming fully awake. Her eyes flew open to discover her husband standing over her dangling a feather in his hand. She was quick to notice that he was not wearing any clothes.

As she attempted to grab the annoying feather, the covers slid off exposing her body, a view that prompted Loki to join her in the bed.

An hour later, she smiled lazily at Loki. "I suppose we ought to get ready for dinner."

Loki sighed contentedly. "If you insist," he sat up and swung his long legs over the edge of the bed. When Katirya made no move to follow suit, he looked over his shoulder at her. "My lady, if you continue to look like that, we will miss dinner completely."

"Hmmm… would that be so bad?" she asked.

"Minx!" He ripped the covers off the bed. "Now get your lazy self up and moving."

"Yes, my lord," she replied cheekily.

"Saucy wench." He leaned over to kiss her, then stood and began dressing.

Sitting up, she realized she felt better. Standing, she wandered over to her wardrobe and selected a gown for the evening. "I think Eir is correct. Your mother told you what her theory is, did she not?"

"Yes, she did. I spoke with my mother when you came up here for your nap."

Katirya scrunched her face up in a frown. "Well, I suppose they are correct, although I did not figure it out. One would think I would, given that it was my child and my body."

Loki laughed softly. "Sometimes we miss things about ourselves that others can see clearly."

"You are being wise tonight," Katirya remarked with a smirk.

"Only wise?"

Katirya threw back her head and laughed. "No, I suppose other things. Did you get a chance to ask your mother about Kai's powers?"

"Yes, I did," he replied.

She glanced over to the sleeping child. "What does she think?"

"She is uncertain, but thinks perhaps your father might be the source for the unusual heat he exhibits when he is angry."

"Taneleer is an enigma, isn't he?" Katirya began dressing. "I wonder what powers Kai has inherited from him?"

"Well, as he grows up I am certain we will discover them; however, until we figure out all of them, I suggest we keep him away from Lorelei," Loki chuckled.

"What? Kai used his powers on her?" Katirya stopped dressing to look at him. "What happened? What did you see?"

"Kai somehow managed to burn Lorelei's hands when she attempted to pick him up. I will venture to say that he will not be swayed by her charms," Loki explained what he had observed.

"Heat – I do not understand that one. It is not something I can conjure up, I wonder why he can?" Katirya asked.

"Mother promised to look into it," Loki replied.

"Well, I do hope she can figure something out. I would far rather not have to visit my father if I can avoid it, especially now," Katirya said as she patted her still flat belly.

"Mother did mention how Taneleer's collection disturbed you. If Eir's theory is correct, we must avoid things such as that. However, I do hope you will be up to helping Jane Foster." Loki's eyes traveled to where her hands rested on her belly. He moved across the room to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, he put them over hers. "Twins?"

She leaned against him. "Yes, twins."

As her scent assailed him, he leaned down to nuzzle her neck.

"If you keep that up, we _will _be late for dinner," she laughed softly.

"Oh, who cares if we are late?" He pulled her back towards the bed.

An hour later, they finally emerged from their chambers, laughing as they headed down to the Grand Hall. They entered to discover everyone had been waiting on them. As soon as they were seen, cheers erupted in the hall.

"I guess our absence has been noted," Katirya said, as she blushed furiously.

Loki pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "I do not think they mind."

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

Thor watched as Loki and Katirya entered, late. From their flushed faces, it was clearly obvious that they had been engaged in other activities. When the couple finally arrived at the head table, he pulled out a chair for Katirya. "My lady."

Katirya sat, smiling up at Thor. "Thank you. I am sorry we are late, but…"

"No need to explain," Thor leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Thank you for making my brother so happy."

"He makes _me_ happy," Katirya replied.

Thor sat down next to her, filling her wine glass.

She lifted it to her lips, taking a sip. "How is Jane Foster? Has she regained consciousness again?"

"No, but Eir did give her a sedative," Thor replied. "I was wondering…"

"I will see her tomorrow. I promise," Katirya assured him, patting his hand. "I am not certain I can help her, but I will see what I might be able to do. I do think she needs to return to Earth before I try anything. Perhaps being in familiar surroundings will be helpful."

Thor nodded. Before he could continue, their meal was brought forth. The evening passed in pleasant conversation over an excellent meal. He managed not to bring up the topic of Jane, although she was on his mind the entire time.

"Could you ask Jane's friends to join us on the terrace?" Katirya finally asked them as the meal ended.

"Yes," Thor rose and sought out Darcy, Ian and Erik. Escorting them to the terrace, they arrived to find Frigga sitting with Loki and Katirya.

A bottle of their finest wine was on a nearby table. He poured himself a glass and offered one to each of Jane's companions. "I imagine you've called us here to discuss Jane," Thor finally said.

"Yes." Katirya nodded. "From what I understand, you observed Althanas with her when she returned to consciousness, correct?"

"Yes, he placed his hands on her forehead, and she began to revive." Thor demonstrated with his hands as he talked. "She did not recognize me at first, then she began screaming that we were evil."

"Thanos had something to do with that, I'll bet," Katirya said.

"BUT, she did speak, right? She was awake. That's more than what has happened in the year we have been here since Niflheim. The healers couldn't do anything for her," Darcy said.

"True, but we are dealing with magic," Loki replied.

Katirya sighed. "It seems Althanas tried what I was going to attempt. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I know I offered you choices. Now I cannot even do that. Since Althanas has taken it upon himself to revive her, I can see what I can do to reverse the process, but as I said before, I can make no promises."

Thor looked at her hopefully. "Do you think you can at least remove those memories?"

"We had discussed it after you spoke to us before Jane was taken. We all felt taking her back to before any of this happened was probably the best," Erik said. "Is that still possible?"

Katirya took a sip of her wine before answering. "I honestly do not know. I have never tried anything like this before, so…" She shrugged. "All we can do is try. Loki is going to help me. We have discovered we can both use the Stones; it seems to amplify our powers. But…" she paused.

"But what?" Thor asked anxiously.

"I think it best if we do this on Earth, in familiar surroundings. If it works and she were to awaken here, it might cause problems," Katirya said.

Thor nodded. "Tomorrow then?"

"First thing tomorrow, right after breakfast. I promise," Katirya replied.


	8. Chapter 8: Ultimatum

Chapter 8: Ultimatum

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

The instant Thor and Jane's friends left the terrace, Katirya looked at Loki.

"Something is wrong," she said. "I think there is a piece of the puzzle that we are missing."

"Puzzle?" Loki looked at her curiously.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"All that confusion going on, the shape-shifter… I do not believe that it was Lorelei all alone. She had to have help. She could not have created all that confusion on her own, and it could not have been Althanas," Katirya explained.

"Why do you say that?" Loki asked.

"Althanas would never murder his own daughter; at least I do not think he would," she replied. "Follow me. I think I know who can answer this," Katirya said, rising and waiting for Loki to join her.

They walked towards the prisons in silence. As they entered, he looked askance at her. "Are you sure this is wise?"

"I shall be fine. He cannot harm me, and a guard can stay with me," Katirya replied. "I want you to remain out of sight, but not out of hearing range, though."

Katirya entered the cell quietly. A guard followed along behind carrying a chair for her. Loki positioned himself so he could overhear anything being said.

Once she was seated, she focused her attention on Althanas, not saying anything, simply staring at him.

"What are you doing here?" Althanas snapped.

When she did not reply, he went on. "Come to gloat? Stare at your father? You just wait. When Thanos finds out what you've done, you will be sorry. Of course, I am not your father, am I? Finally figured that out did you? Daughter of that weird one, the Collector. Are you weird too?"

She leaned her head back, to change the angle of her view of him, still sitting silently.

"You… you… you're a fake! You have no magic! It is just the Stones. You were never meant to have the Cronuth Stone in the first place. THAT was to belong to Thanos, along with you. When he gets here, he will kill your precious Loki and take his revenge on you," Althanas sneered.

Katirya continued to remain silent, just staring at him.

"SPEAK, you whore!" Althanas screamed at her.

She said nothing.

"STOP THAT! You will obey me!" His voice commanded. "Release me at once."

She simply raised her eyebrows, still not talking as she stared at him. It was a tone she had heard many times growing up, but now it held no power over her. She realized that she had no ties to him anymore. A sense of relief washed over her. She rose and turned to leave.

"Where do you think you are going? Stay right there. I'm not finished speaking to you!" Althanas shouted.

She turned to look at him once more, pity on her face. She finally broke her silence.

"I am sorry, YOU are not finished speaking with ME?"

"Wait until my brother finds out what you have done to me. Your sister will tell him about your actions and he shall return to wreak his vengeance," Althanas snarled.

"Indeed? Is she truly my sister?" she asked, curious to hear the reply. She was beginning to have her doubts. She ignored the fact that he seemed not to know of Kyrath's murder.

"Yes, she is my daughter…"

"But I am not your daughter," she interrupted him.

"No, you are a puny thing. Always were. I never could figure out what your mother saw in you. Weak… foolish… a stupid girl," he taunted her.

"Really? Then why am I standing here free, whilst you are in chains?" she asked. With a nod to the guard, she left the cell.

"Get back here at once!" he shouted at her retreating back.

Katirya half-turned back towards him. "No, but thank you nonetheless. You have answered one question for me."

She exited, walking directly to Loki. "He did not kill Kyrath. He still thinks she is alive."

"I heard that. So who did?" he asked.

"THAT, is our problem," Katirya replied, letting her breath out in a big sigh.

"One of our problems," Loki added.

Katirya looked at him wryly. "Indeed. So many questions... Who else was here? Were they working with Lorelei? And most importantly, where is Thanos?"

"And then there is the matter of Mjölnir and Thor's powers. Not to mention Jane Foster." Loki added to the list. "And why did Lorelei not send Jane immediately to Thanos? Shall we question her while we are here?"

"Somehow, I do not believe she will answer our questions. We need to find the other person, the one who murdered Kyrath and Hadriath. Then, I think, we will understand more," Katirya replied.

They retired for the night after their visit to Althanas. As Katirya came awake the next morning, she realized she was alone in the bed, but not alone in the room. She quickly closed her mind the instant she realized it was not Loki.

The person was standing by the door, staring intently at her. She continued to pretend to sleep as she considered her situation. Clearly it was not a servant, as servants simply did not stand staring. The question that remained was whether he or she was a friend or an enemy? She also realized she was naked, and she imagined the intruder was fully clothed, and most likely armed if the intruder was intent on doing harm.

"Kiri? I know you are awake. I see your eyelids fluttering," a very familiar voice said.

Relief washed through her as she recognized the voice. "Mica!" She sat up, wrapping the sheets around her. "However did you get in here?"

"I walked," her brother replied with a laugh.

"Really? You did not fly in?" she joked back. Getting out of bed, she slipped a robe on. As she tied the sash, she realized it was Loki's as it was too long on her. She did not bother to find hers, instead racing across the room to hug her brother. "Seriously, how did you get in?"

"Relax. Heimdall knows I am here, as does your husband. In fact, he said if you were awake, to bring you down to the breakfast room," Micarian explained. "He did fill me in a bit on what has been going on. I leave you alone and look at the mess you created!"

Katirya laughed. "It has been rather chaotic this past year."

"I had heard you were allegedly killed, on Niflheim," he said.

"Allegedly? Then you did not believe it?" She inquired.

"Nay, for I could still sense your presence. You are my sister, well… half-sister after all. Which also brings up another topic. I initially came as I heard Loki had imprisoned Kyrath and Hadriath. I came to request their release to me, or rather to Cartherion. When I arrived, I discovered that Althanas is also here and that you have returned," Micarian said.

"Yes, it has been rather busy here," Katirya replied, avoiding the subject of the murder of Kyrath and Hadriath.

"Kyrath, she is dead, isn't she?" Micarian asked bluntly.

Katirya nodded. "How did you know?"

"Our connection was close since we were twins," Micarian explained.

"Twins? That explains it then," Katirya laughed softly. When her brother looked at her quizzically, she patted her belly. "I am pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl."

"Congratulations!" He hugged her. "I am certain Loki is happy to know he will have an heir."

"Oh, we already have one child." She walked over to pick up Kai, handing him to her brother. "Kai, meet your Uncle Mica."

The baby blinked, then gurgled happily.

"You _have _been busy, even being away from Asgard." Micarian smiled at Kai. "Is he why you did not return at once?"

"One of the reasons," Katirya evaded answering completely. "I will explain, let me get dressed and we can head down to eat breakfast."

Once dressed, she took Kai back from her brother. They walked out into the palace, heading for breakfast.

"Loki told me a little of what had transpired, but he said you could fill me in with the details," Micarian prompted her once they were in the hallway.

Katirya briefly filled him in with the events of the past year. When she started to talk about her return, and Kyrath's arrival, she hesitated. "I know she was your sister. I did not realize that you two were twins. I always thought you were the older one. There is so much I did not know about her."

"I was the elder, by a few hour. I guess I just assumed you always knew we were twins," Micarian reassured her.

"No, but… still, I feel sorry that she was murdered," Katirya said. "She always hated me so, but she did not deserve to die."

"Yes, she did hate you. I never understood why, but she disliked you from the instant you were born. She was always closer to father, so perhaps that explains it," Micarian offered an explanation. "She also made her own choices – her marriage to Hadriath's son, her decision to align with Thanos…"

"True," Katirya admitted.

"You cannot blame yourself for her decisions. She was vain, and always looking for power. Now, let us forget her and deal with the issues at hand, primarily Althanas. I need to speak to you and Loki about the possibility of releasing him to me." Micarian stepped behind her, allowing her to enter the breakfast room first.

Katirya half-turned before entering the room. "I _am_ glad you are here, though. It is good to see you. You must tell me what has been happening back home."

"Ah! I see you have finally awoken, my lazy wife," Loki shouted across the room from the table where he sat.

"Lazy?" Katirya scoffed. "We were up half the night, at the very least, before we even retired. And then… well…" She flirted playfully with him.

"Indeed," Loki rose, pulling out a chair for Katirya. He gestured towards the empty seat on his left for Micarian.

Once seated, Micarian spoke. "Cartherion is not as good as I had hoped it would be by now. The Council was more corrupt that we had imagined. It will take years to get things operating properly, but we are moving in the correct direction."

"Should you need any assistance, you know you can always ask us," Loki offered.

Micarian looked a little embarrassed for a moment. "Well, the past year…" his voice trailed off.

"I realize things were not exactly pleasant here," Katirya jumped in before Loki could reply, "but I believe we have both learned from our mistakes. Do feel free to call upon us." She cast a loving look at her husband.

"Indeed, I shall remember that," Micarian said. "Marriage does agree with you sister."

"You ought to try it," Katirya grinned at him.

"Perhaps… I just haven't found a suitable woman," Micarian sighed wistfully. "So far, they have only desired me as I was King."

The doors flew open to permit the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three to enter. Micarian's eyes flew to the newcomers. Recognizing them, his eyes lingered on Sif. He rose and approached Sif. "My Lady, would you care to join us for breakfast?"

Katirya shot a quick look at her husband, watching as Sif smiled brightly at her brother. Loki nodded.

"They would make a good match, though I wonder how Thor would react to that?" Katirya whispered to Loki.

Loki frowned. "Thor needs to decide. Jane Foster consumes his mind. If he does not watch out, he will lose Sif to another. Perhaps your brother, if not him, another will quickly step up. She is a desirable woman."

"Desirable?" Katirya baited him.

"Ah, wife. Is this jealousy I hear?" He leaned over and kissed her. "I may find the Lady Sif attractive, but you are the woman I chose. Remember that."

"Speaking of Thor," Katirya nodded towards the door as Thor entered.

"Brother, it is time to go. Jane has been restless, even waking once or twice during the night. Eir has given Jane a light sedative, which will wear off shortly. We must take her to Earth," Thor demanded.

"Kiri?" Loki asked. "Are you prepared?"

"I am, I suppose," she replied. "Let us see to this at once. Mica, do you wish to join us or await our return?"

"I shall wait here, if you do not mind" Micarian barely took his eyes off Sif as he replied.

"We shan't be long," Katirya replied as they left.

Thor took leave of them to go retrieve Jane. "I shall meet you at the Bifrost then."

Loki and Katirya reached the Bifrost to find Darcy, Ian and Erik already waiting for them.

"Where's Jane? And Thor?" Darcy asked.

"Right here," Thor's voice sounded behind them. He was carrying a sedated Jane, with Eir following him.

Heimdall looked the group over. "I hope your mission is successful. I shall await your request to return."

The party walked through the portal, arriving at Jane's old lab in New Mexico. Thor looked immediately at Katirya. "Why here?"

"I asked Heimdall to send us to the place where you first met her. If possible, I want to return her mind back to before she ever met you." Katirya looked at Darcy, Ian and Erik. "You will have to pretend nothing ever happened. It will be hard at first, but I would rather not tamper with your minds."

"Uh, no… no messing with my mind." Darcy put her hands to her head. "It's messed up enough as it is."

Katirya laughed. "I thought you might agree. Now…Thor, if this works, Jane will not remember you. She will have no memory of the Aether, Asgard, nothing. And there is not guarantee that her memory might not jump forward. I have never tried this before."

"You will do the best you can," Thor reassured her.

"Set her down, over there," Katirya pointed to a lawn chair that was sitting in the desert sun.

Thor gently lay Jane down in the chair, then stepped away. Katirya moved closer, and knelt down next to the chair. Taking one of Jane's hands in hers, she closed her eyes. A blue aura began to surround the two women. Katirya winced, then threw back her head and screamed.

Loki started forward only to be held back by Thor. "No!" Thor commanded.

Loki's eyes flashed in anger. "That is my wife!"

Katirya suddenly collapsed, falling away from the lawn chair.

Jane moaned, wiping a hand across her eyes. "Bright light," she murmured.

Loki shook free of Thor's grip, moving swiftly to Katirya's side. "Kiri?" he whispered.

Katirya's eyes fluttered open. Seeing Loki's face near hers, she snuggled against him. "Hold me."

"What happened?" Loki probed her.

"It… it… I saw everything as we went backwards. I think it worked," Katirya whispered faintly. "I do not wish to think about it, please."

"Forget it," Loki placed a hand to her forehead.

Katirya's eyes closed and she smiled. "Thank you."

Loki set her down, turning to see Thor on his knees next to Jane.

"Jane?" Thor asked.

Jane squinted up at him. "Who are you? Darcy? Why am I out here in the sun? You know I burn."

"Jane! You're okay!" Darcy shrieked, racing over to her friend. She wrapped her arms around Jane's shoulders.

"Of course I'm okay, but who is this big oaf just staring at me? Do we know him?" Jane sat up, looking at Thor as if he were some strange creature.

Katirya lifted her right arm, and a shimmer of silvery light fluttered over Jane and her companions freezing them in place and leaving Thor, Loki and herself still mobile.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW?" Thor roared in anger.

"Paused time for a few moments. Loki asked me to," Katirya replied.

"Why?" Thor demanded.

"Brother, you must decide." Loki's voice was calm, his face impassive as he spoke. "Thor, son of Odin, Wielder of Mjölnir, God of Thunder, Protector of the Nine Realms, and my brother." The titles rolled off Loki's lips. "Like I, you are split between two worlds. You love one of Earth, just as you are a Son of Earth. But now you must make a choice. Asgard cannot have her warrior split between two worlds. You must decide which world you shall live."

"What do you mean?" Thor stared at his brother incredulously, clearly not believing what he was hearing.

"You must choose to remain here on Earth or return to Asgard. Your life cannot be split between the two. Asgard cannot have her best warrior unfocused. It would be unwise. You must decide, for clearly Jane cannot return to Asgard," Loki replied.

"Have I not worked hard for you this past year?" Thor asked.

"Indeed, you have. But you have chosen not to seek out Mjölnir, nor to restore your powers," Loki said. "You must choose one world. I feel it is in the best interest of everyone. I will; however, not ask you to make your decision today." He glanced over at Katirya. "You may have until two months after the twins are born to decide. You may travel between both worlds at will until then, but once you decide, should you choose Earth, you may never return to Asgard."

"And if I choose Asgard? May I return to Earth?" Thor asked, looking over towards Jane.

Loki shook his head. "I think that would be unwise."

"So I have one year?" Thor asked. "This is not fair. You know that Loki."

"No, it is fair."

Thor lowered his head, nodded, recognizing the wisdom behind his brother's ultimatum. "I suppose it is."

**Author's note: **_There is now a short one-shot of Thor's self-imposed exile on Earth posted. The story is called "Mortal". _


	9. Chapter 9: Destruction

Author's note: If you missed the new one-shot I posted, check out my story "Mortal". It is a short story set during Thor's self-imposed exile on Earth prior to this chapter.

Chapter 9: Destruction

_**~§~ Lady Sif ~§~**_

The past year had been so pleasant, and now this. Sif smelled the acrid scent of burning flesh from the building she was running past. She reached the palace just as another flash of light hit another building, causing it to explode into flames.

Sections of the city were burning! The enemy had attacked!

"Watch where you are going!" she shouted as she ran into a stumbling guard.

Fandral caught her before she fell.

"Thanks." She brushed her hair out of her face. "How bad is it?"

"So far, it seems to be concentrated in this section of the city. I do not believe there are many intruders," Fandral replied, as he released her.

"Where is Loki?" she asked.

"Last I saw him, he was in the throne room, organizing the guards."

"I must speak with him. We need Thor," she growled, as another explosion sounded outside the doors.

"Agreed, but he is on Earth," Fandral pointed out.

"He needs to return. I wish to ask Loki if I may go seek Thor out, beg him to come back," Sif said.

"Good luck with that. And, if you do go, do not be overly long." Another explosion punctuated his statement.

Sif ran up to the Throne room, only to find that Loki had left. "Where is the King?" she demanded of the guards there.

They pointed to a side room. Sif walked to the door and entered.

"Kai I am not worried about, he will protect himself," Katirya said to Frigga. "It is the babies I am worried about. Ah, there you are," she said, as Greiwaldt and Sean entered. "I summoned my brothers, they can help."

Frigga nodded. "We shall ensure their safety. Now, you be careful too. They need you." She glanced at Loki. "And you as well, my son."

Katirya nodded, then handed one of the Infinity Stones to Frigga. "Here, take this. It will help."

Frigga looked at the object in her palm and smiled. "Indeed."

"My King," Sif interrupted.

Loki turned to look at the lady warrior. "What is it, Sif? How bad is it?"

"Fandral feels they are only in one section of the city. We've given orders to evacuate the entire city anyway. They are moving to the palace. There are some casualties," Sif reported.

"Just one section? Interesting," Loki glanced at his wife. "What do you make of that?"

"I do not believe there are many of them. We ought to be able to rout them easily," Katirya replied.

"My King, I have a request," Sif said hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"It's about Thor; we could use his aid," Sif said. She waited impatiently for his response.

"Yes, we could. But he is on Earth…"

"We MUST get him to return," Sif interrupted him. "I am sorry. I should not have interrupted, but if Thor would return…" her voice trailed off, allowing them to draw their own conclusions.

"I agree. Kiri?" Loki looked at his wife.

"Yes, we need him. But his mind is stuck on Jane Foster. I fear he is planning on remaining on Earth, as a mortal," Katirya said.

"What?" Sif shouted angrily. "He is going to stay?"

"I am not certain, but I fear he might. He feels responsible for her condition," Katirya said.

Sif growled. "He is NOT responsible for that… that… person's problems. Thanos is!"

"I agree," Katirya moved closer to Sif. "But he still feels that way. Mayhap you can convince him otherwise?" She looked at Loki. "I think it would be wise to send Sif to ask him to return. She might be able to persuade him."

Loki nodded. "Go, at once. You have one hour."

Sif did not wait, but ran out of the room and headed for the Bifrost.

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

"Do you think she will be successful?" Loki asked his wife.

Katirya shrugged. "I do not know."

"What of Mica? Your brother?" Loki had been aware of Micarian's interest in Sif, and the lady warrior had responded in kind. She had enjoyed the attention. It made him wonder if Sif were the right person to send to Earth.

"It is a good match, and Thor has shown no interest in Sif. If Thor were to return, things might get interesting, but I think Sif is the best person to reach out to Thor," Katirya replied.

Three more explosions rocked the palace. Three pictures fell off the walls.

"They are getting closer." Loki looked at his mother. "You will summon us if there are problems."

It was a statement, not a question, and Frigga understood. "We will ensure their safety. Now go and save the city before these fools destroy it any further."

_**~§~ Lady Sif ~§~**_

Sif arrived outside the small town where Thor was now living. She stared up at the heavens, shaking her fist. "Could you not have gotten me closer, brother?"

Running gracefully, she went first to Thor's apartment. It was empty. She slammed the door, racing down the stairs. She had just reached the door when it opened, admitting Thor.

"There you are! You must return to Asgard at once! You are needed," Sif demanded.

"What is wrong?" Thor asked.

"Someone is attacking Asgard, Thanos most likely. We need your help," Sif implored him.

Thor closed his eyes, then shook his head. "I cannot. I have decided to remain on Earth, with Jane Foster."

"FOR WHAT?" Sif raged at him. "To live with a woman who cannot stand the sight of you?" Do not lie to me, Thor. I saw how she acted the other night. She does not love you. When will you realize that the woman who loved you is gone?"

"Be quiet! You do not know what you speak of," Thor roared.

"Oh, I know. Trust me on that Thor. But will you leave your friends and family to die to remain her with her?"

"Loki and Kiri have the Stones; they have powers. I do not. If they cannot save Asgard, my meager help will not be of any use," Thor said, his voice filled with sadness. "I must stay here, it is my fault…"

"You are a fool if you believe it is your fault. Thanos is responsible for this! Do you not want your revenge?" Sif shouted.

"No, I must stay. I am sorry, Sif," Thor said.

"Sorry? You are _sorry._ You are definitely not the man I thought you were. You are a spineless fool. I do not know what I ever saw in you," Sif spat at him. "Stay here, and whine about the fact that you have no powers. I am done with you!" She pushed past him and exited the building.

"Sif! Wait!" Thor shouted to her retreating back.

She turned to face him. "For what?"

Thor closed his eyes. Sif could see his brows furrow as he thought about everything she had said. She waited.

"How bad is it?" he finally asked.

"Very bad. We need your help," Sif said quietly.

Thor nodded. "I will go, but I plan to return when we are done."

"That is your choice. Heimdall!" Sif shouted and the rainbow effect of the Bifrost enveloped them, returning them to Asgard.

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

"This section seems to be getting hit the worst," Fandral advised as Katirya and Loki appeared.

"Ready?" Katirya asked.

The Warriors Three moved to stand next to the King and Queen of Asgard. Katirya wore the tiara with the four remaining Stones upon her brow, and Loki carried his scepter. Ranks of guards moved up behind them to add to their might.

Katirya nodded, and the doors were thrown open. "Where are these attackers?" she asked, seeing no one outside. A flash of light appeared and landed in a nearby building, blowing it up. She crouched down slightly, then flung her arm in an arc over her head. Suddenly, figures appeared in the streets.

"What?" Hogun asked, shocked to see the attackers appear.

"They were trying to hide from us. I believe they are afraid," Katirya taunted the invaders.

"We are not afraid of you!" The attackers formed together and began to advance on the Asgardians.

Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg drew their weapons, and with a shout, raced into the group, slashing at the enemies. Katirya remained in her crouch, keeping the arc of magic going so that they could see their attackers. Loki stood guard over her, his scepter flashing light as one broke off from the group racing directly towards the royal couple. The enemy fell dead at their feet.

The battle intensified as more of the enemy rounded a corner, reinforcing the original group. The city guards had joined in with the Warriors Three.

Sif came racing up from another direction, skidding to a halt as she surveyed the battle before her, trying to determine where best to jump in. Thor was right behind her.

"THOR!" A combined shout rose up from the Asgardians.

Another enemy escaped from the fray, heading directly for Katirya. Thor raised his sword, decapitating the creature.

"Oh, how I wish I had my hammer," Thor lamented.

Katirya rose up to stare at him. Her eyes were a glittering-silver. "Summon it!" she shouted.

"Summon it? But I know not where it is?" Thor replied.

Katirya's hand shot out, light flashing from it to destroy another enemy. "Seriously? Have you tried?"

Thor shook his head. "Mjölnir is lost to me."

Three more of the enemy started towards them. Loki engaged one, while Katirya decimated a second. The third was still racing towards them when Sif threw her sword at it, killing it instantly.

Katirya paused in the midst of the battle, put her hands on her hips and glared at Thor. "Will you just summon the bloody hammer, damn it!"

Thor shook his head. "It is not going to work," he muttered, but raised his hand half-heartedly, looking to the sky as he summoned Mjölnir. Within seconds, the hammer appeared, slamming into his open hand. He stared at it incredulously. "How – what?"

"Do not question, just fight!" Loki shouted.

"But… but…" Thor stammered. "My hammer."

"Yes, it is your hammer. Now swing it and kill a few of these cretins. We can discuss it later," Loki ducked as one of the attackers threw a dagger at him. He retaliated with a blast from his scepter.

With Loki, Katirya and Thor at the head of the Asgardian force, they advanced through the section of the city that was under attack.

Katirya was so focused on one attacker she missed the one coming up from her right flank. Sif sliced the creature's head off with one clean swipe of her sword.

"I wish I could fight with a sword like that," Katirya commented wryly.

"And I wish I had even a small part of your magic," Sif replied. "But I promise to teach you a few moves once we finish off these things."

"Magic? Why did you not say so?" Katirya grinned. "I shall trade you sword lessons for magic lessons!" She blasted another arc, freezing a small team of the invaders, which allowed the guards to dispatch them with their weapons.

"Ladies, really?" Loki grinned as he blasted another with his scepter. "Do we really have time for small talk right now?"

As the Asgardians advanced through the section of the city most heavily infected with the invaders, word of their destruction to the enemy forces flew before them, causing the attackers to attempt to flee.

"What are these things?" Fandral shouted above the fighting.

"I do not know, but I intend to find out," Katirya replied.

Katirya suddenly focused on one specific attacker. Breaking off from the others, she raced towards it, grabbing it by the throat and lifting it off the ground. Sparks flew from her eyes, entering the head of the creature. It began to scream before she finally dropped it to the ground. It lay dead at her feet. "They are mutants, Chitauri mutants. Thanos has been breeding them, and… I know where Thanos is," she announced.

The city guards had surrounded the remaining creatures, killing them one by one. Soon, none were alive.

Katirya closed her eyes, her chest heaving as she took deep breaths, attempting to calm down. When she reopened her eyes, they had returned to their normal coloring. She staggered over to Loki, wrapping her arms around him as she leaned against him. "There will be more. This was simply the first wave," she said softly. "We must prepare for war."


	10. Chapter 10: Altercation

**Author's note:** _Just an FYI that I have a major paper due next Wednesday (11/19) so I will be slow posting until after that. I should have a chapter up sometime this week, but hang tight - there is more coming! :-)_

Chapter 10 - Altercation

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

"Where is Thanos?" Volstagg finally asked, as they were walking back towards the palace.

"On a moon near the Chitauri home world," Katirya replied. "I could be wrong, but I think those invaders were mutant Chitauri. Thanos has been busy."

"Just remind me to never get you mad at me," Fandral joked.

This produced a laugh from the group, relieving a bit of the tension.

"There is just one… ah, _small, _problem," Katirya said after the laughter died down.

"And that is?" Thor asked.

"We are not ready to battle them. If what I learned from that invader was true, the Thanos, has an army that will wipe us out. It is huge," Katirya said. "And… I think there is another working with him."

"Another?" Thor shouted. "Who?"

Katirya shook her head. "The creature did not know, and the information I received from him was… almost faulted."

"Faulted?" Loki looked at her. "What do you mean it was almost faulted?"

"Vague, at best. Other than the part about Thanos and his little army - that part was clear, clear as a bell," Katirya replied. "It just seems odd that he knew so much."

"Could he have been trying to throw you off?" Loki asked.

"Hmmm, it is possible. If so, then the size of the army could be questionable," Katirya replied. "We will need to visit Thanos to find out, I just hope it isn't an ambush."

"But, we have the Stones!" Sif exclaimed. "We can defeat him with them, right?"

"We only have five of them, but I would think they would stand in our favor," Loki reminded her. "Do we need the sixth?" He directed this question at his wife.

Katirya nodded. "Yes, we shall need it if we are to defeat him, or them if there is another… and even then I am not sure… I do not know if I have the ability."

Loki hugged her. "We can do this."

"I do hope you are correct. It was so confusing, but at least we know where Thanos is hiding." Katirya looked up at him, a weak smile forming on her lips. "That last Stone, I wish we could find it. We have no clue where it is either. I wonder if Darcy discovered anything about it over the last year?"

"I do not know. She did not say; they did rather keep to themselves," Loki said, speaking of the humans.

"More like avoided us," Thor added. "We were not precisely the most hospitable."

Loki looked at him ruefully. "Agreed. Well, we can always go ask her."

Katirya nodded. "We shall need to. And we will need to call upon all our allies. I do not know how much time we have, but he has been planning for almost two years. Thanos intends to destroy us, although from what I learned from that creature, he is not ready yet. This was simply a mission to gauge our readiness."

"Attempt; he will attempt to destroy us," Thor corrected her, swinging his hammer. "We shall prevail."

"We need to plan," Loki said, directing them towards the Throne room. He starting ticking off items they needed to cover. "If you are correct, Kiri, and we need to call upon all of our allies. We shall have to determine who we can count on, then send messages to them asking them to join with us in this fight."

"Someone needs to go speak with Darcy," Sif added. "Hopefully she discovered something about that last Stone."

"It would be nice to have all six," Katirya said. "I would feel a little more confident in my powers."

"What if she doesn't know anything? Does anyone know what she was doing the past year in Asgard?" Fandral asked.

"No, we do not know what she did, but she does have a knack for discovering information," Sif said hopefully.

"Indeed, she does. I would not mind going back to Earth to speak with her," Thor offered, rather excited at the chance to possibly see Jane once again.

"Speaking of returning to Earth, do I take it then, that you are choosing to remain on Asgard? Your year is almost up?" Loki reminded him.

Thor stopped and looked at his brother in surprise. "I must choose?"

Loki nodded. "Yes, this…" he waved his arm back towards where they had battled, "does not change anything. You cannot be part of both worlds. You must choose one."

"But I fought bravely for Asgard! Surely that must account for something. Why must I choose?" Thor replied as they entered the Throne room.

"Why? I thought you understood. You cannot be of both worlds. You must choose one," Loki replied.

"I still do not understand. I feel you are being unfair," Thor said.

"Unfair?" Loki looked at his brother in surprise. "We discussed this a year ago. You seemed more than willing to make a decision. In fact, is that not why you have spent the past year in a self-imposed exile upon Earth?"

"You made me choose!" Thor bellowed back in anger.

"I did not force you to remain on Earth. You were free to return at any time, it was you that chose to remain, even though your Jane Foster continued to ignore you. Why do you persist in this ridiculous pursuit of her?" Loki's voice rose as he spoke.

"Ridiculous! You do not understand at all." Thor shouted.

"Oh, I understand, all right. You think you are in love with Jane…"

Thor interrupted him. "I AM in love with Jane."

"Love? You do not know the meaning of love. If following after the mortal like a lovesick puppy is love…"

"I am not a lovesick puppy. I love Jane Foster, and…"

"And what? You are going to spend sixty or seventy years of your life following her around hoping she will eventually return you feelings? Where is the passion in that?" Loki sneered at his brother.

"You do not understand!" Thor shouted. "What do you know about passion? All you two have done is fight and lie to each other. Kiri spent a full year away from here. Where is the passion in that?"

Loki did not answer at first, instead looking from his brother to his wife, Katirya. His eyes darkened with passion as he looked at his wife. "Yes, we have fought… and lied to each other. I have a feeling we will always fight, as Kiri is a strong woman, and I will admit to not being an easy man to live with. But, I feel I can speak for both of us when I say, that ours is a passionate relationship."

Katirya responded by simply stepping up to her husband, molding her body close to Loki's, a half-smile forming on her lips as she tilted her head up to stare at his face.

"When you find the love of your life, you will know it," Loki continued to stare into Katirya's eyes.

"Jane is the love of my life!" Thor insisted adamantly.

"Even if she returns your love, she will not live as long as you, then what?" Loki looked back at his brother. "Will you come crawling back here, asking for us to take you back in?"

The others had started to move away, fearful of a fight between the two brothers. Only Katirya remained, although she stepped away from Loki.

"I will never crawl, I am Thor, Defender of the Nine Realms," Thor's said, stepping closer to his brother as if daring him to argue the point.

"So, Thor, Defender of the Nine Realms," Loki mocked his title. "This Jane Foster, last I saw of her, she was doing her best to avoid you. Why do you continue this farce? I am sorry she…"

"YOU are sorry? For what? She has been harmed in ways we cannot even begin to understand," Thor spat back at Loki.

"And you continue to blame yourself, do you not? Thor, it is not your fault that she was chosen by Malekith, it was not your fault that Thanos kidnapped her…" Loki shook his head, then extended his arms towards Thor's shoulders.

Thor pushed Loki away. "It was my fault. If I had never met her, she would not have been harmed."

"It was NOT your fault," Loki repeated.

"I was the one who was exiled to Earth by Father. If I had not attempted to destroy Jotunheim, this never would have happened. I never would have met her and she would not have been involved in our lives," Thor said.

"Well, then if you are going to place blame, then I am to blame, for if I had not decided to cause mischief that day, you would never have been banished," Loki replied.

"YOU? You were the one who let the Frost Giants in?" Thor snarled.

"I was tired of living in your shadow!" Loki shouted back.

"BOYS!" Frigga's voice rang out. "Stop this foolish argument at once."

Everyone's head swiveled in the direction of Frigga's voice. She entered the room carrying Aud, while Greiwaldt held Sverre. Sean was helping Kai as he toddled along. Aud let out a wail the instant she heard all the shouting.

"Now, now," Katirya relieved Frigga of her burden. "Shush." The infant quieted down. Frigga took that instant to return the Infinity Stone to Katirya.

"This is not a foolish argument," Thor said.

"It is. The past is just that – over! You cannot change it. Now what is the meaning of all this shouting?" Frigga demanded.

"Loki is still insistent that I must choose between Midgard or Asgard. There is no reason I cannot live there, and return here to help as needed," Thor replied.

"Really? Then where were you when these invaders attacked?" Sif finally spoke up. "I had to ask Loki to allow me to seek you out. And even then you were not eager to return. I had to beg you to come back!"

"I did not know…"

"Of course you did not know! How could you, sitting in that dreary apartment, cutting yourself off from your family and friends?" Sif shouted.

"It is NOT dreary," Thor snapped.

"Really? Well, you did not seem very happy when we came down for that ridiculous Earth custom of a birthday," Sif said. "And your girlfriend barely made an appearance. If that is the life you want…" She allowed her voice to trail off.

"Sif is correct," Loki started to say.

"What does Sif know? She has not lived my life," Thor stepped forward, swinging Mjölnir over his head once before setting it down before the throne. "I have always faithfully served the King of Asgard. First, our father, now you. Yet you all contend that I have no loyalty to Asgard."

"We are not contesting your loyalty, but your reasoning," Loki replied, staring at the hammer and what it represented.

"My reasoning?" Thor looked astonished. "You are calling me insane?"

"No, I am not calling you insane…"

"It certainly sounded like it, brother."

Katirya stepped towards Thor. "Thor, please. Understand that we do not think you are insane. It is just that," she gestured towards Mjölnir. "You do not trust yourself, your powers. You are so caught up in what has happened to Jane Foster that you have forgotten who you are. I am sorry she was involved in this, but we have done what we can to ensure she has a normal life."

"Normal? She is like a skittish rabbit now. She needs protection. Who is to protect her if I cannot? And speaking of my powers, and my hammer," Thor glared at Katirya. "Why did you hide it from me?"

"I did not hide Mjölnir from you. You are the one who chose not to seek it out. It was waiting for you all along," Katirya said.

"I have not forgotten who I am, I am Thor, Defender of the Nine Realms," Thor stated bluntly.

"Where is my brother, the Mighty Thor, Defender of the Nine Realms? That is not who I saw fighting back there. You have grown weak during your stay on Midgard," Loki said quietly.

"WEAK?" Thor raged. "I have not grown weak." He reached down and picked up his hammer. Lifting it up over his head, he shouted. "I have found my hammer, I AM the Mighty Thor!"

"You could have found your hammer anytime, yet you chose not to…"

"I did not know where it was. Your wife put a spell on it. That is why I could not find it," Thor said, his tone accusing, as he set Mjölnir back down by the throne.

"I put no spell on your hammer. I have no power over the hammer, it belongs to you, if you are deemed worthy," Katirya stepped towards the hammer. "I will not even attempt to lift it, for I know I cannot."

"So, you are saying you are not _worthy_?" Thor taunted her.

"It is not within my range of powers to control Mjölnir. At least, not that I know of. I choose not to try," Katirya replied quietly.

"Then, how did you know I could summon it?" Thor asked.

"It was always within your grasp. You simply ignored it," Katirya said.

"I did not ignore it! I was stripped of my powers! I have it back now, and thus I shall continue to serve Asgard as I have always done. I shall not be forced to choose between Midgard and Asgard!" Thor's voice boomed with defiance.

"You may not return to Earth with Mjölnir. Should you try, you will find your way blocked," Loki said firmly.

"BLOCKED? You would block me?" Thor looked at Loki, aghast that he would try to stop him.

"You cannot take the hammer back there. It will not work on Earth," Loki explained.

"Not work on earth?" Thor looked at Loki, totally frustrated. "It has worked on Earth before. Once I learned humility, the lesson our Father sent me to learn, I was able to use it to defeat your monster. Then again, when you were trying to destroy New York, I was able to aid the Avengers. I have sworn to help them to protect Earth. You are saying my hammer will no longer work? Why must I give up all of this?" Thor's arm swept around as if to encompass all of Asgard. "Are you still jealous of me?"

Loki shook his head, as he sighed heavily. "No, I am not jealous of you anymore. You have always cast a big shadow, but I have learned my lesson. If you choose to return to Earth, you will lose your powers once again."

"Thanos stole them the first time, are you to steal them this time? Or your wife?"

"You always had your powers, and powers you have never even known about," Katirya said. "I will not steal them from you. Earth will."

"Earth? I do not understand. How can a planet steal my powers?" Thor asked.

"Because you are my son," a voice from the doorway spoke.

Everyone's eyes swiveled to see who the speaker was. At first, all they could see was a bright light, then it formed into the figure of a woman, in a pale blue gown. Her long blond hair fell to her waist. She walked into the room, closer to the group gathered by the throne.

"Gaea!" Frigga shouted with joy.

"Frigga, it is good to see you once again. You have done a fine job with my son… although he is a bit stubborn, is he not?" Gaea asked, a smile dancing across her face.

"Like his father. They are both stubborn," Frigga replied, as she nodded towards Loki, including him in her statement.

"Mother?" Thor looked at the woman curiously.

"Yes, your birth mother, although Frigga raised you," Gaea replied. "But Loki is correct. You cannot live on Earth, even part time. You will lose your powers, as you have over the past year. While I rejoice that you love Earth as much as I do, it would sadden me to see you live there."

"But, I do not understand. I need to be there, Jane needs me," Thor implored.

"Jane Foster, the mortal?" Gaea asked. When Thor nodded, she went on. "So you would give up this, for her? For that is what you must do. You cannot live in both worlds, and Jane Foster will live only a short time…"

"What? She is going to die? How? Who is going to kill her? I will kill them first!" Thor broke into her explanation.

Gaea laughed softly. "Yes, she will die. She is mortal; their life span is short. Yours…" she sighed. "You have been granted a long life, unless you choose to waste it. Should you decide to live on Earth, your powers will diminish to nothing. You will not die as quickly as they do, but you will become mortal, and die as well."

"Loki!" Thor turned on his brother. "What mischief have you created to make me lose my powers were I to chose to live on Earth?"

"It was not me," Loki said.

"No, it was a decision your father and I made. We feared you might discover Earth fascinating. I love it myself," Gaea explained, as she shrugged her shoulders. "But it will consume you. I am sorry that Odin chose to send you to Earth for that lesson, but it is done and cannot be undone. Think carefully on the choice you make today, my son."

Thor considered Gaea's words for a few seconds. Sighing heavily, he finally spoke. "I will choose…"

"MY KING!" A guard erupted into the Throne room. "We have captured a spy!"


	11. Chapter 11: Provocateur

**Author's Note: **_If you don't follow me as an author, you might have missed a little Loki/Kiri one-shot I posted this week. It's called "Persuade Me". A quiet little interlude that happens between Chapters 8 & 9. There is also a Thor/Jane one-shot titled "Mortal" that falls in this same time span of the story._

Chapter 11: Provocateur

_**•£• Loki •£•**_

"A spy?" Loki whirled to face the guard. "Where? Who?"

"In the healer's, my King. He was posing as one of the new apprentices," the guard said, gasping for breath as he spoke. "You must come at once."

Loki darted a quick glance at his brother, wondering what he had been about to say. Thor just clamped his mouth shut, not finishing his sentence. Frustrated, Loki nodded. "I shall be there shortly."

Loki turned to face his brother. "You were about to say?"

"I…" Thor opened and closed his mouth, but said no more.

"Well, it appears you have a bit of time to decide. To the healers then," Loki offered Katirya his arm and escorted her towards the doors.

Thor walked over to Mjölnir and leaned over to pick it up. It would not budge. His muscles bulged as he struggled to raise the hammer.

Loki noticed this before he exited. He paused to look at Thor. "It would seem Mjölnir knows your choice."

"No. Yes. I… do not know," Thor finally spoke. "This is not an easy decision."

"No, it is not, my son," Gaea said. "But one you will need to make. Until you do, the hammer has decided you are not worthy."

"I do not understand why I must choose, or why I cannot keep Mjölnir with me. Who will wield it if I do not?" Thor asked.

"That we will not know until such time as the hammer or the Norns decides. At least we know where the hammer is. Now, let us deal with this spy," Loki said.

The group reached the healers to find it surrounded by the city guards. They parted to permit the King and his party to enter. Eir greeted them, then pointed them towards the prisoner.

The prisoner looked no different than any of the other healers, but he was snarling and spat at the guards as they entered. He was standing between two of them; his hands tightly bound in cuffs.

Loki glanced at him, then asked Eir, "How long has he worked here?"

"Approximately two months. He arrived with excellent references from one of our healers who retired recently. I did not question the references," Eir replied, a worried look upon her face. "It appears I have made a mistake. I am very sorry, my King."

"No, do not worry, for I fear he is not in his true form," Katirya said. She stared hard at the spy. "Are you?" She approached the prisoner, stopping about two feet away, still continuing to stare at him.

The prisoner squirmed, trying to escape the bindings that held him. "What do you know?"

Katirya cocked her head to one side. "More than you realize. You work for Lorelei, correct?"

The prisoner started, then tried to hide his response. "No, I have never heard of Lorelei?"

"Do not lie," Loki growled in warning, wondering if Katirya had made a good guess when she asked about Lorelei. "We can discover who you work for far easier than you realize."

"How?" the prisoner glared at them. "I refuse to tell you anything." He lunged forward, pulling a small dagger from his tunic. Even with his bound hands, he was able to raise the dagger up. He slashed at Katirya. The guards reacted quickly and threw him to the ground.

Katirya jumped back, but not quickly enough. She glanced at her arm, a small trickle of blood where the blade had slashed her.

"My lady!" Eir dashed forward.

Katirya held out her arm. "It is just a small wound."

"Let me clean it at once. Who knows where that blade has been," Eir quickly tended to the wound.

Loki turned to the leader of the guards. "Take him to the prisons, put him in with Lorelei."

One guard lifted the prisoner off the floor, restoring him to his feet.

"NO!" the prisoner screamed, kicking at the guard. "NO! Do not put me with that witch!"

"Ah, so you do know her?" Katirya grinned.

The prisoner sneered, "No, but I have heard of her."

Loki ignored him as the guards pushed him out the door. "Eir, I am sorry you have had to deal with garbage such as this. Are there any other new healers?"

Eir shook her head. "No, my king. He is the most recent. The rest have worked for me for years."

"This scum in Asgard precipitated Lorelei's arrival here. Can we infer this was her link to information, Kiri?" He looked at his wife.

"If not her, then for Thanos. Thanos might not have trusted Lorelei and figured she might double-cross him, which she did," Katirya replied. "Either way, he most likely was working for one or the other."

"Can you see any other spies?" Loki asked.

Katirya shook her head. "If there are any others, they are hiding as this one was. I wonder why he stayed? Why did he not bolt when we captured Lorelei?"

"Until we find out for certain that he did work for Lorelei, we shall not know. Eir, how did you discover him?" Loki asked.

Eir frowned. "He was skulking back in one of the rooms that are off limits to all but my most trusted senior healers. I thought at first he might be trying to steal something, but then I realized he was trying to look something up. He took off the instant he became aware of me. Fortunately, one of the guards was outside and captured him as he exited the building."

"What was he looking up?" Katirya asked.

"He was searching through my remedies, and he had several records out, including yours," Eir replied.

"Remedies? Why would he search for remedies?" Loki asked.

"Some of the more potent medicines are used in remedies. Some are dangerous if used in excess," Eir pointed out. "Perhaps he was looking for something to poison someone with."

"Well, he is in the prisons now. Fandral?" Loki looked at the warrior. "Would you see to it that someone watches and listens to our spy and Lorelei this evening? Have them report back to you if they learn anything of interest. Once you have arranged that, meet back with us in the Throne room. We need to organize our information and plan."

"I shall be glad to do that," Fandral took his leave, heading towards the prisons.

"How is your arm?" Loki asked his wife.

"It was just a little cut. I shall be fine. Eir has treated it," Katirya held up her arm for inspection.

"Well, we certainly need to put this little incident into perspective," Loki led the way out of the healers. He steered the group up towards the living areas of the palace.

Frigga accosted them the instant they walked in the room. "What happened? Who was it?" Then she noticed Katirya's wound. "Are you okay?"

Katirya smiled as she picked up Aud from the floor where they twins had been playing with their older brother. "I am fine; it is just a small wound."

"The spy refused to tell us anything, no surprise there, so I had him placed in the same cell as Lorelei. Our guess is that he was either working for her or Thanos sent him to spy on her," Loki explained as he picked up Sverre, smiling at the youngster.

Kai, realizing he was not the center of attention, suddenly started to cry.

"Now Kai, you know better than that," Katirya admonished him. "Come here." She held out her free arm to embrace her eldest child. He quieted as soon as he was in her embrace.

Fandral arrived as the children quieted. Loki nodded when he saw him, gesturing for everyone to take a seat at the table. He gestured to one of the servants, "Pour some wine and ale, please." Once the servant had finished, he looked around the table at everyone. "Let us determine what we do know for certain, and what we suspect."

"We know where Thanos is, and that he is amassing an army to attack," Katirya started, then took a sip of wine. She reached out to a plate of fruit, selecting some grapes. She offered one to Kai as she nibbled on another.

"And that Lorelei clearly betrayed him. She was supposed to bring Jane back to him, but chose not to," Thor added. "Do you think Jane is safe on Earth?"

Loki shrugged. "I do not know. He might target her again, but if he thinks we have no interest in her…" he looked pointedly at his brother.

Thor shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "So you are saying I should stay away from her?"

"No, I am not saying that at all. I am simply stating a fact," Loki snapped. "It is up to you if you spend time with her or not."

"Boys," Frigga said, a warning in her voice.

"Mother, we can no longer tiptoe around this. Thor must make a decision," Loki said, slamming his hand to the table, causing some of the wine in his glass to spill out. He ignored it and went on. "Thor, we need you here in Asgard, but I will not force you to remain. The choice is yours, but you must choose."

"Can Jane come here?" Thor asked.

"I do not think that is possible anymore. At least, not now. Remember, she has forgotten all that happened. It would be a shock for her to return, and it might trigger some of those memories," Katirya said. "Perhaps later, if she comes to accept you as a friend…"

"But I do NOT love her as a friend!" Thor jumped up, causing the table to rock. Everyone grabbed their glasses before they could spill.

"Thor, this is not about whether you love her or not, this is about Asgard," Loki glared at his brother, hoping to get him to think about where he had spent all his life.

"Loki is right," Gaea finally spoke up. "This is about Asgard, and yes – you must choose. If you choose Earth…"

"I know," Thor cut her off angrily as he started to pace back and forth. "I will become a mortal, like her. I will die, like her. Perhaps that is what I wish for. Did no one consider that?"

"Then go to her!" Loki stood, staring hard at Thor. "We will manage without you."

"Just like that?" Thor stopped his pacing to stare at Loki.

"What? Do you not think we cannot survive without you? We have managed for the past year," Loki said.

"Nothing happened over the past year; you said so yourself. Then Thanos decided to attack Asgard, and what did you do? You sent Sif to beg me to return. How will you manage without me?" Thor roared.

"I did not send Sif; she asked. We would have been fine without you!" Loki stood and walked to stand in front of Thor. They were eye to eye, glaring at each other.

The twins started crying at the loud sounds.

Katirya handed Aud to Frigga and rose from her seat. Kai slid off her lap and toddled away, unnoticed. "ENOUGH!" Her voice cut through the noise, causing the twins to stop their crying, startled at the sound.

Her eyes were blazing as she advanced on the brothers. "The two of you need to stop this bickering! Nothing can change the past; it is over and we need to go on. No one person is responsible for everything that happened; we all had parts in it, but it still does not change the fact that things are the way they are. Jane is alive, and maybe not the way you remember her, but at least the memories of her experiences with Thanos have been erased. I do not know if she will ever love you again, or if she ever loved you. I cannot be the judge of that." She held out a hand to stop Thor from speaking.

He ignored it and interrupted her. "She loved me! I know she did. None of this would have happened…"

"STOP this!" Katirya shouted. "We cannot change the past."

"You have the Stones!" Thor bellowed. "You can restore her memories."

"I will NOT use the Stones to restore her mind to what it once was. We talked about this, and you agreed then. Why now do you wish to go against what we decided? The Stones are not to be used lightly, and not for something like this," Katirya replied in a quiet voice.

"But you used them to erase those memories," Thor replied.

"No, I did not. Althanas mangled the attempt to revive her; I only erased her memories with some magic I know. I did not use the Stones," Katirya answered.

"Know, my son, that if you choose to return to Earth, the other powers you possess will be lost to you, as well as the powers granted you by Mjölnir," Gaea reminded him.

"I have not other powers," Thor refuted her.

"You simply have not discovered them," Gaea replied. "And if you return to live out your life with this human, you never will, and it is possible, that Thanos may use her to get to us still."

Katirya walked over to Thor, placing one hand on his shoulder. "With or without you, we will fight Thanos, and hopefully prevail. And if it is without you, and we fail, Earth will eventually fall, and then none of this will matter anymore. Thor, you are not irreplaceable; none of us are. You know the fact remains that should you return to Earth, you will be lost to us. The hammer remains here, and as your father once said… 'Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.' That means there are others who can wield the thing!" She swiped her arm in the direction of the throne where the hammer rested at the base.

A collective gasp went up from everyone as they followed the direction of her arm. Kai had managed to toddle over and with one hand, had lifted the hammer up.

"Mama, toy!" Kai grinned at Katirya as he held the hammer aloft and wobbled towards her, the weight of the hammer throwing him slightly off balance.

**Author's Note:** _I might be delayed for the next week posting updates. I have a massive paper due mid-week, followed by a minor (only 6 pages) one due the following Sunday. But do not despair, there is plenty more to come. The joys of working on advanced degrees… _


	12. Chapter 12: Doubt

Chapter 12: Doubt

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

"Ummm, no Kai. That is not a toy. That is your Uncle Thor's hammer," Katirya admonished her son as her eyes flew to Thor to judge his reaction.

Thor's eyes were wide, staring as the young child lifted the hammer up easily. "How did he do that? Be careful, Kai. You might get hurt."

Kai lost his balance and everyone in the room gasped. Katirya moved to try to catch up, but he landed on the floor on his rump. Mjölnir hit the ground next to him with a resounding thud. Kai blinked up at everyone staring at him and realizing he was once again the center of attention, beamed broadly and giggled. "Hamma! Unca Thor's hamma!"

Katirya breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her son was unharmed. "Kai, do not play with that again," she spoke sharply at him as she moved across the room and swept him up in her arms. "You gave your mother a scare."

"Hamma!" Kai burbled at her as he pointed back at Mjölnir.

"Yes, that is your Uncle Thor's hammer," Katirya repeated for him. She looked over at Thor. "I am so sorry."

'For what, Kiri? I just do not believe that he could lift it. He is so young," Thor replied. He walked over and bent down to retrieve Mjölnir. Only he could not lift it. He tried again, jerking at the shaft, but it remained solidly on the ground.

Silence descended on the room.

Sif and the Warriors Three shifted uncomfortably.

"I need more time!" Thor looked up at the heavens and shouted.

Gaea and Frigga exchanged a look, and then both nodded at Loki.

Loki moved to stand next to his brother. "Thor, I fear Mjölnir is giving you no further time to decide. I wish I could change this." He turned to look at Gaea. "Is there a way?"

Gaea silently shook her head.

Thor closed his eyes, his face showing the pain he was feeling. "This is not fair. I should not have to choose." His eyes flew open as he stared at Loki. "YOU did not have to choose!"

"But I did choose. I chose Asgard, and I murdered the man I thought was my father to protect my place here," Loki replied quietly. He then laughed, a harsh sounding laugh.

"Well, it seems you were right," Thor sneered at Katirya. "It looks like I am replaceable. I just did not expect it to be a baby. Or were you using magic so he could lift it?"

"Thor, no! Do not do this to yourself," Frigga pleaded with him. "You know Kiri would not trick you."

"Would she not? Is this not what she has been after all along? To control all of Asgard? With Mjölnir, she will have everything except the final Stone in her grasp," Thor lashed back.

"Thor!" Gaea shouted. "Stop this insanity. This," her arm swept to encompass the hammer, Thor, Loki and Katirya, "has nothing to do with anything other than what your father and I decided. I _knew _if you ever went to Earth, there was a chance you might discover something to keep you there. Earth will kill you eventually. We all die, some earlier than others. THAT is the choice you must make."

Thor put his hands to his head in frustration. "I cannot choose. You ask me to forsake something I love. I must either give up my family and friends or Jane Foster."

No one spoke.

Loki reached out and placed a hand upon Thor's shoulder. "It is a difficult decision. I wish I could make it easier. I wish I could tell you that Jane will suddenly remember her feelings for you, or that she would be happy living here. But I cannot do any of that, even though I am the King. Even if you were the King…"

"But I am NOT the King," Thor said savagely. "YOU are. I gave you that right. I chose not to accept the throne and its responsibilities. Is that not enough to relinquish?"

"Apparently not," Loki replied.

"I need time to think. Give me one hour." Thor whirled around and stalked out of the room, ignoring everyone as he left.

Loki looked at the others gathered. "There is no sense wasting time. We shall use this hour to plan."

They gathered back around the table to discuss the situation.

"First, we need to assemble our allies," Loki began. "Tomorrow, we will head to the Chitauri moon to see if Thanos is indeed still there."

"Is that wise?" Volstagg asked. "Will he not be waiting for us?"

"I do not believe so. He does not know I am alive, yet. The creature I killed was surprised by my appearance," Katirya replied. "That alone should be sufficient to take him off his guard. And we do have five of the Stones; he has none."

Volstagg nodded. "Well, we had best be ready just in case."

"You are correct. I shall put you in charge of assembling the guards who will travel with us. Select only the finest," Loki said. "Before we leave, we must start to assemble our allies. I need each of you to send out messages to our known friends seeking their aid."

"Shouldn't we do that before we go visit Thanos?" Sif asked.

"I think we might be able to catch him off guard if we go there now. From what I learned, Thanos is assembling any army, but not on that moon. It is too small for that purpose. It is simply his hiding place. If we can manage to sneak in, we might be able to strike him down before he even knows we are there," Katirya explained.

She set Kai back down on the ground. The boy made a beeline for Mjölnir. "Kai! No!" She jumped up to stop him, but stopped, dumbfounded, as the boy grabbed the shaft of the hammer, but couldn't budge it this time. "Kai?"

"Mommy! Hamma broked," Kai pronounced his opinion of what was wrong with the hammer.

"No, honey. It is not broken," Katirya replied.

"Yes, broked. Won't play wif me no more," he lost interest in the hammer and looked around the room. "Doggie!" He pointed to the door where Frigga's three dogs were quietly entering. They trotted up to the young boy and the first one there gently bumped Kai with his nose, causing the boy to plop on the floor. He giggled and pulled himself back up using the dog for leverage.

Seeing that the dogs had captured Kai's interest away from Mjölnir, Katirya refocused on the discussion. She was surprised to see everyone staring at her. "What?"

"The hammer. He cannot lift it now. DID you do something earlier?" Loki asked her.

"No, dear. I promise you I did nothing. I can no more control that hammer than I can you," Katirya replied with a laugh.

Loki lifted one eyebrow as he looked at his wife. "Interesting, we shall have to discuss the latter tonight, alone."

"I look forward to it," she replied with a grin.

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

Thor wandered out to the practice yards. No one was there, but that was precisely what he wanted. He picked up a sword and started slashing at one of the practice dummies set up in the yard. The physical exertion permitted him to clear his mind, forget about everything.

He continued to work out until he was drenched in sweat. Finally, he set down his sword. His mind was clear, more ready to focus. "This was a good idea," he said aloud.

"It was," Frigga's voice said quietly. "I thought I would find you here. Do you wish to discuss this now?"

Thor nodded and walked over to her. "Let us go to the gardens." He offered her his arm as they left the practice fields and walked through the streets towards their destination. "I know what is right, what I should do, but it is not what I _want _to do."

"Sometimes, my son, we do not always get to do what we want, or what is right. We do what is best for us. That is the decision you need to make. What is best for you?" Frigga said.

"I know you and Father both disliked my relationship with Jane," Thor said.

"Yes, for multiple reasons. I will not lie to you. Your father had always hoped you would consider the Lady Sif for your wife," Frigga admitted.

"Yes, I knew that. But she is my friend, I cannot see her for my wife," Thor said.

"Sometimes your best friend is the best choice, but that is not for me to decide for you," Frigga said quietly.

Thor noted the wisdom of her comment. He guided her towards a nearby bench, and once they were both seated, he looked at her. "Was it like that for you and Father? Were you friends first?" 

Frigga smiled. "No, I met your father during a feast and fell in love with him at first sight. I had to compete with many other women to capture his attention just for the chance to spend one night with him. That one night was enough; he asked to marry me the next day."

"One night? Well, now we know where Loki gets it from," Thor chuckled.

Frigga joined into the merriment. "Indeed. I hear his visit to Earth involved just one night with Kiri."

"I wonder if it will be like that for me?" Thor pondered. "But then again, Loki and Kiri did not seem to be compatible when they first met. It seemed like they were always arguing."

"Kiri is a very passionate woman, and she brings out that facet in your brother. Remember, he has always been very private, not given to emotional outbursts," Frigga pointed out. "The fact that they argued, I find that very interesting. Loki never was one for arguing, even with you."

"That is true. I forgot about that. I wonder…" Thor paused.

"You might wish to speak to your brother before you make your decision. Talk to him about his relationship. It might help you to define yours with Jane better," Frigga suggested.

"Mother, you have always been so wise. I think I will," Thor rose, offering his hand to his mother so she could rise. Arm in arm, they returned back to the others.

"Kiri, may I steal your husband for a while?" Thor asked the instant they entered the room.

"As long as you promise to return him unharmed," Katirya teased him. She looked at Loki. "I shall take the children and put them to bed." Gaea and Frigga rose to assist her with the children. 

Volstagg rose, "We shall begin sending out messages and selecting our group for the morrow."

"Excellent, we shall meet at the Bifrost in the morning. I bid you gentlemen, and my lady, good night. Wife, I shall be along eventually, something tells me this might take some time," Loki walked over to his brother. "Shall we?" He gestured towards the door and the two exited.

The two brothers walked for several minutes in comfortable silence. Thor had a feeling his brother knew what he wanted to talk about. Ever since his marriage to Katirya, his brother had seemed to be more able to read minds, with the exception of the period when Katirya was absent from Asgard. Of course, that was a time everyone wished to forget.

He headed towards his chambers, knowing they could talk in private there. Entering first, he dismissed his servants and gestured to two chairs near the fireplace. The servants had left his usual evening selection of food and beverages set out on the table by the two chairs. Noticing there was only one glass, he walked over to a cabinet to find another.

"Wine or ale?" Thor asked before selecting a glass.

"Wine, please," Loki replied as he sat down.

Thor selected a wine glass and brought it over. Filling it with wine, he handed it to his brother and then filled his glass with ale. He returned to the chairs and sat down.

"So, how can I help you?" Loki asked after taking a sip of his wine.

Thor shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He was finding it difficult to ask his younger brother for advice on affairs of the heart. "How did you know you loved Kiri?" he finally blurted it out.

Loki threw his head back and laughed. Shaking his head, he controlled his mirth and looked at his brother. "So, this _is_ about Jane, or rather, your feelings towards her. I think love is different for everyone, but with Kiri…" his voice trailed off.

"Yes? With Kiri?" Thor prompted.

"Sorry, I was recalling when I first saw her here in Asgard, when you were interrogating her down near the gates, when she dropped that cloaked to reveal herself. The instant I saw her, I desired her," Loki reminisced.

"Wait! You were not even there! I sent guards to look for you," Thor looked strangely at his brother.

Loki dropped his gaze to the floor for a second, a mischievous smile appearing on his face. "Oh, I was there." He looked up at his brother. "I was in the room. I had seen her arrival from one of the balconies overlooking the city, and thought I had recognized her. I had to be certain it was Katirya. I had met her before, many years ago when Mother would take me to her friend to learn magic. Kiri was considered inept in the arts of magic, thus why she lived in the country. Her appearance at the gates of Asgard claiming to be Queen of Cartherion put me on guard. How could one who was incapable of learning magic rise to a position of power?"

"But… but…" Thor spluttered. "You tricked us? You were there the entire time? Where? How?"

"I simply came as one of the guards. In fact, you asked me specifically to escort her to her chambers. But I already knew she was the real Katirya, and she had kept a secret hidden even from me. Although, to be honest, she did tell me when she was younger that she was '_the most powerful child ever'._ Her words, actually. I did not believe her then, but you might find this funny; I promised that very day that I would marry her and she would be my Queen. Odd how life worked out, for I did marry her."

"Why did you promise that?" Thor asked.

"Kyrath, her sister, along with several of her friends, were tormenting her. Kiri was being pushed around, and I came upon them. I felt sorry for her. She then declared that she knew magic, but couldn't tell anyone. So I offered to protect her, little did I know what that might entail," Loki grinned, then continued. "I think you can see why I was not certain it was the real Katirya that day. I honestly did not believe she knew any magic, so how could she have managed to become Queen?"

"So, your feelings were protective, then. I feel protective of Jane Foster," Thor said.

Loki leaned forward. "No, there is more. You have to feel it here." He tapped his fist over his chest where his heart lay. "And here," he tapped his belly. "You feel it through your entire being. It is not just being protective; it is a consuming desire. When I thought she had betrayed me, recall how I was. No one wanted to come near me. THAT is how much she had become a part of me, and to think she had betrayed me was just… just too much for me to handle."

Thor easily remembered that year. It had been a terrible time in Asgard. Loki had been teetering on insanity. Now he wasn't so sure he wanted to be in love. "So, if I understand what you are saying, simply feeling protective isn't love?"

"Perhaps for some, it is enough. For me," Loki shook his head. "I would not trade a minute of my life with Kiri for something so mundane as feeling protective." He finished off his wine.

Thor picked up the bottle and refilled Loki's glass, then his. Both drank in silence for several minutes. "That does help. Mother said to speak to you about it. I just do not know what I want. I want to be with Jane, I feel responsible for what has happened to her, but I think she is safer if I stay away. I wonder at times, what our lives would have been like if Thanos had never interfered, would we have had this passionate love that you speak of?" He downed his glass and refilled it again.

Loki chose not to respond, allowing his brother to think out his problems. He sipped from his glass.

"I just does not seem fair," Thor slammed his glass at the fireplace where it shattered.

Loki lifted his eyebrows at his brother, but still said nothing.

Thor lifted the bottle of ale and drank. "Can I visit her?"

"I think so, but we shall have to consult with Gaea about that. I do believe you are not banished from Earth, just that you cannot live there," Loki replied quietly.

"Can she live here? If she were to come to tolerate me," Thor asked.

"So you admit that this past year has not been what you have expected?" Loki asked.

Thor glared at his brother. "How dare you?"

"How dare I? You are the one who asked to speak to me, and you are my brother. So yes, I question your past year on Earth, your self-imposed exile from Asgard. It was not what you expected, was it?" Loki responded.

Thor took another drink from the bottle. Drawing his hand across his mouth to wipe the excess liquid off, he stared at his brother for a moment, the dropped his head. "No, it was not. She avoided me, was afraid of me. I had hoped if I stayed near, was a constant, she might come to accept me, but she did not."

"Then I think you have your answer," Loki said.

Thor nodded. "I have decided. I shall remain on Asgard."


	13. Chapter 13: Unbalance

**Authors Note: **_Thank you all for you patience these past few weeks while I focused more on my graduate writing than my creative writing. Scores were just posted last night and I earned A's on the two major assessments and the course project as I work towards my educational doctoral degree. A HUGE relief. _Spring semester will bring the final two challenges with two more major assessment, then I will start my thesis project, but I will continue to write until I run out of ideas. __

_So, now I may focus a bit more on my creative writing. I cannot believe it has been almost a year since I started on this journey to write this story. And I do not know how long it will continue as I have a long journey ahead still for these characters. I do hope you are enjoying the story. PLEASE review (and if you noticed errors - send me a PM so I can fix them). _

Chapter 13: Unbalanced

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya sat out on the balcony, enjoying the quiet of the night. Frigga and Gaea had just left. Three empty wine glasses offered testimony to the camaraderie the women had shared. Katirya thought about the stories Frigga had told of her 'boys' as she had called them. They were certainly not boys anymore.

"Anything else, my lady?" the young servant asked.

"Yes, before you leave, would you please bring out a bottle of that wine my husband likes?" Katirya asked.

"Yes, my lady," The servant bobbed a curtsy, then dashed off to do as she had been bid. Once the wine was chilling, Katirya dismissed her for the night. She sipped her glass of wine as she waited. Idly, she picked up a book and began leafing through it. A loose piece of paper slipped out, falling to the floor. She bent over and picked it up.

Intent on looking at the paper, she did not hear Loki slip into the room. Her first indication that her husband had returned was the kiss he placed on the top of her head.

"Oh! You are back." She glanced down at the slip of paper. "Look at this, what do you make of it?" She held it out for him.

She watched as he read it, a frown crossing his elegant face. "This makes no sense. It is just… symbols, I guess."

"That is what I thought," Katirya replied. "Do they have any meaning?"

"None that I am aware of." Loki shrugged, and then spotted the wine chilling. "I see you were expecting me back soon." He walked over to the bottle and opened it. Pouring himself a glass, he refilled Katirya's glass with the sparkling wine. He took a drink. "Hmmm, my favorite. Any reason?"

Katirya smiled up at him a sparkle in her eyes. "No… well, maybe."

He set the glass down and knelt down in front of her. "So, my lady. What might that 'maybe' be?"

She reached out, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Well… the children are sleeping, and…"

Loki pulled her into his arms, sweeping her up in one move. "Enough said. Sleeping children cannot be wasted." With long strides he walked to the bedroom.

"Wait! The wine!" Katirya cried out.

"It will still be there when we are done."

Katirya woke up slowly, feeling lazy. She reached out, but realized she was alone in the bed. Her mind replayed the nighttime activities that had transpired once Loki had returned from his chat with Thor. She briefly remembered he had mentioned that Thor was going to remain on Asgard, but then they had gotten distracted. She noticed the now-empty bottle of wine, sitting upon the side table in their room.

Her young serving girl entered the room. "Good morning, my lady."

Katirya grinned at her. "Indeed, it is a good morning. When did my husband get up?"

The girl shrugged. "He was gone when I arrived this morning."

Katirya sat up in the bed. "Hmmm, well, I suppose I shall find him at breakfast, for which I must rise and get dressed. Are the children up yet?"

"Hours ago," the girl replied. "At least it seems that way."

"They are active, I am so thankful for all the help you and the others provide. I honestly could not do it myself," Katirya offered the praise freely. She quickly dressed, then checked in on the children before heading towards the dining hall.

She entered, fully expecting to see Loki waiting for her, only to discover no one else in the room. She paused in the doorway, wondering where everyone was, when Frigga and Gaea walked up.

"Good morning, Kiri. Where is Loki?" Frigga asked.

"I was just wondering that myself. He apparently arose early, and I thought I would find him here. We discussed the plans to go track down Thanos a bit last night, as there were a few more things we need to plan before we head to the Chitauri moon," Katirya replied.

"What of Thor? Did he say anything about him?" Gaea asked.

"Oh, yes. It seems he has made his decision," Katirya hesitated, wondering if she ought to wait and permit Thor to announce his choice.

"Asgard?" Gaea guessed.

Katirya nodded.

"Good, he will forget the mortal eventually," Gaea said. "Now, shall we go find the two of them or eat breakfast first?"

"Well, I am a bit hungry…"Katirya spoke up, peering into the dining hall. She noticed the buffet had been set up, but appeared untouched. "Even Volstagg is missing."

"This is odd," Frigga said. "No one has eaten yet, but you say Loki was up early?

Katirya nodded.

A servant walked into the room. He stopped and stared at Katirya. "My Queen? I… I… I thought you left with the King this morning."

"Left? Left where?" Katirya questioned him, her eyes narrowing. "Where did he go? Was Thor with him?"

The servant nodded. "Yes, Thor was with him. I do not know where they went, but they headed out to the Bifrost, with you and the Warriors Three."

"And Lady Sif?" Katirya asked, skipping over the part about her being with Loki and Thor.

"No…" the servant paused, clearly trying to recall who was in the group that morning. "There were several palace guards, though."

Katirya looked at Gaea and Frigga. "This is strange."

"Kiri!" Sif entered the room. "What is going on? Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg are missing."

"As are Thor and Loki." Katirya gestured towards the servant. "It seems I supposedly went with them. He said they left earlier this morning with a small company of guards."

"To the Chitauri moon?" Sif asked.

Katirya shrugged. "We do not know. We need to speak with your brother to get to the bottom of this."

The four women raced out to the Bifrost.

"My Queen! How did you return? You…" Heimdall asked as he stared at Katirya.

Katirya interrupted him. "I never left. Tell us, what happened this morning? Where did Loki and the others go? And who was with them?"

"The Warriors Three, and a small group of guards accompanied them. And you. You arrived her as yourself, but just before they left, you changed into the spy that was captured. You indicated that it would help to lull Thanos if the spy was with. And you mentioned that Thanos probably did not know you were alive so it might add to the surprise," Heimdall explained.

"But it wasn't me…" Katirya murmured. "Who was it?"

"It seemed to be you, I am sorry if I have erred…"

"No, they clearly fooled everyone, even Loki. But how?" Katirya replied, her mind whirling.

"And more importantly, who and why?" Sif added.

"All good questions. Heimdall, where did they ask to go?" Katirya asked Heimdall.

"The Chitauri moon."

"It must be a trap! Heimdall, can you see them?" Sif asked.

Heimdall walked to his window of the universe. He looked out for several seconds, then shook his head. "I cannot see them, but that is where they went."

"The spy! Is he still here?"

Heimdall swiveled his head towards the prison and nodded. "Yes, he is, as is Lorelei."

"Thanos! It had to be Thanos, or another working for him. AND he clearly knows I am alive," Katirya concluded.

"But how?" Sif asked.

"We did not exactly keep it a secret, and I have been back over a year. Anyone could have easily told him. He could have sent someone to Asgard. Witness the recent attack. They were testing us, but they clearly have more information than we are aware of. We have been lax this past year," Katirya explained.

"You cannot blame yourself for that, or anyone really. You were pregnant with the twins and we tried to keep things quiet," Frigga pointed out.

"True, but somehow Thanos discovered I still lived and had retuned to Asgard. We have to find Loki and the others. I would wager that Thanos captured them. They walked into a trap unsuspecting. I DO wish they would have waited till I was with them…" Katirya wailed.

"But they thought you were with them," Heimdall pointed out.

Katirya sighed heavily. "Correct. Whoever it was, they were good, or…" she paused. "Heimdall, what time was it? And how much of a hurry were they in?"

"It was just past dawn and they were in a hurry. You had some message, a slip of paper with a collection of symbols on it. You were shouting when you arrived, about how it identified a time of attack on Asgard and we needed to stop it." Heimdall suddenly walked across the room. Bending down, he picked up a piece of paper. "It would seem to have been left behind." He offered it to Katirya.

Katirya grabbed it. "THIS is the paper I found last night, in a book Loki had been reading. I was waiting for him to return from his chat with Thor. We both looked at it, and since it did not seem to make any sense, well… we had other things to, uh, talk about."

"Talk?" Frigga asked archly.

Katirya just shrugged her shoulders and grinned. Then she sobered up. "But how did it get here? And how did the other me get it?"

"Perhaps Loki took it with him when he woke up this morning. Maybe he finally made sense of it?" Sif offered.

"Well, standing around here we are not going to figure it out. We need to find them and bring them back. But unlike them, we know we are walking into a trap," Katirya said. "We need backup – BIG time!"

"But who?" Sif asked.

"Mica, you spoke to him, right?" Katirya asked, knowing that Sif had most likely been the one to contact her brother last night.

"Yes, he has promised to send as many troops as he can. Why?" Sif replied.

"Heimdall, send a messenger to my brother, tell him he is needed here at once. I need him to remain here, to protect Asgard while we are gone. Frigga, I wish for you and Gaea to remain here as well to protect the children," Katirya issued these orders as she exited the Bifrost chamber.

The women trailed after Katirya as she raced back to the city. Upon entering, she made a beeline for the prisons. Storming past guards, she approached the cell with Lorelei.

"Why are we here?" Sif asked.

"I need help, and this one can help me… maybe," Katirya pointed to Lorelei.

Lorelei was sleeping in the one chair in the cell. The spy huddled in one corner. Katirya looked at the guards. "Let me in there."

The guards quickly obeyed her, not asking any questions. Katirya knew the other women were wondering what she was up to, but she did not want to explain, afraid they would try to deter her.

Katirya walked up to the sleeping Lorelei, ignoring the spy who scuttled to the furthest possible spot in the cell. She reached down and ripped the covers off Lorelei.

"What the…" Lorelei mumbled sleepily. "I warned you, brat!"

"I am not the brat, if that is what you are calling the spy," Katirya snapped.

"Oh," Lorelei opened her eyes and stared at Katirya. "What do you want?"

"Your help," Katirya replied. She could hear the gasp beyond the cell from the others.

"MY help?" Lorelei laughed, and pulled the covers back over her body. "You must be joking. Why do _you _need _my _help? And more importantly, what is in it for me?"

Katirya stepped back from her. "Maybe you are correct. Maybe you cannot help me. I shall just leave you here to rot until eternity." She turned sharply to exit.

"WAIT!" Lorelei sat back up. "I did not say I would not help, I just need to know a bit more. What am I supposed to do? And as I asked, what do I get in return?"

Katirya turned to face her once more. "For one, you get out of the cell, even if it is only for a short time. I might consider allowing you freedom, I'll exile you to the most remote planet I can think of and never let you leave it… IF you help me and we are successful."

"Freedom? I will do it for that, nothing less," Lorelei announced.

"You will have no choice but to take what is given you," Katirya replied.

"So, what is it I have to do?" Lorelei asked.

"Help me," Katirya replied simply. "I believe Loki and Thor have been captured by Thanos. I need your help; he knows you, even if you did double-cross him. He might be willing to let you closer to him than I can get. And we will bring your pet." She gestured towards the spy.

"NO! I will not be a part of this. It is a trap!" the spy shouted.

"Yes, I know it is a trap. I know Thanos is aware of the fact I still live. But I will get Loki back," Katirya snapped at the spy. "And you are going to help us, whether you like it or not." She turned to face Lorelei once more. "So, will you help me?"

"As long as I get out of here, sure," Lorelei replied.

"Excellent. I shall inform you when we are ready. If you need anything, let the guards know, but you will not get any weapons. Your only weapon is the powers you hold over men." Katirya turned on her heel and walked to the exit.

"WAIT! I thought you said I was going to help you!" Lorelei shouted.

Katirya paused, and turned to stare at Lorelei as if she were a specimen in a jar. "You will, but first I have one more I need to ask. Be ready to leave within an hour."

Sif stared at Katirya. "She will double-cross you."

"I know, but I need her to get closer to Thanos," Katirya replied. "I just hope she does not escape before her part is played out."

"So, who is the other?" Sif asked.

"You are to come, of course, but I need one more," Katirya replied. "Frigga, if you and Gaea will remain here, Sif and I shall go ask one more."

Frigga stared hard at Katirya a few seconds, and then nodded. "I wish you luck with this last one. You shall need it. She has no love for anything or anyone. What can you offer her?"

Katirya simply smiled. "I think I know. Sif, let us go."

Katirya and Sif returned to the Bifrost. Heimdall looked askance when Katirya told them their destination.

"Do you not wish for some guards?" he asked.

Katirya shook her head. "No, I have the Five Stones, that ought to suffice."

Seconds later, they arrived in Hel.

"Kiri, what are you thinking? Is this not madness?" Sif asked.

"Perhaps, but it is my only hope. The Stones are not enough; not against Thanos, I know that. With their help, I hope my plan will work." Katirya walked towards the gates of Hel.

The gates opened as they approached and Hela emerged. She sashayed up to the two women. "My, my, my… what have we here? Loki's little wifey and Thor's wannabe wife."

Katirya put a hand out to stop Sif from attacking Hela. "And good day to you as well, Hela."

"What brings you here? You are clearly not ready for Hel… yet. Maybe in a few years or so," Hela cocked her head to one side, inspecting Katirya. "You're awfully short too, I do not see what Loki finds so attractive in you when he could have all of this!" She swept her hands over her figure.

Katirya lifted one eyebrow. "Why don't we ask him?"

"Seriously?" Hela looked excitedly at Katirya. "You would allow that?"

"Certainly, but first you have to help me find him."

"What? You lost him?" Hela threw her head back and laughed. "I might just go look for him myself, I do not need you!"

"Ah, but you do," Katirya said softly. "You cannot leave Hel, can you?"

Hela frowned. "No, I cannot. But you knew that, so how can I help you?"

Katirya touched the tiara upon her brow where the Five Stones were. "I can arrange it, if I wish. If you will help me."

"Hmmm, tempting, but no. One taste of getting off here and I will want to do it again. I will simply remain here," Hela turned to leave.

"BUT… what if I made it so you _could _leave from time to time? Say, once or twice a year? Would that tempt you?" Katirya offered.

"Now we are speaking…" Hela slithered closer. "I will do it, but one more condition… I get one night with Loki."

"Absolutely not!" Katirya turned to leave.

"Well, you did say you would allow me to ask him," Hela pointed out.

Katirya took several deep breaths, then announced. "Fine, if he will permit it."


	14. Chapter 14: Unholy Alliance

Chapter 14: Unholy Alliance

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

"Come! We must hurry!" Katirya shouted the instant she entered the breakfast room.

Loki started, surprised to see her here so soon. She had been fast asleep when he snuck out of their room only moments before. "Kiri, why the rush? I thought we had agreed to wait for the replies from our allies?"

"I figured this out." Katirya waved the scrap of paper she had found in his book. "This is a coded message… to the spy. And we need to move at once before Thanos suspects anything."

"What does it say?" Thor asked.

"The message basically states that Thanos has sent his army off to…" Katirya hesitated.

"Not Earth!" Thor shouted.

"No, no, not there yet. But we must go at once. Earth is their next destination. If we can stop him now, we can keep Earth safe," Katirya replied, her voice urgent. "We need only a few, since his army is gone and he is almost alone on the moon. But hurry!"

Loki nodded, "If he is almost alone, we should be able to infiltrate his hideout before he is aware of us. Thor, gather the Warriors Three and meet us at the Bifrost. I shall select a small party of guards to travel with us."

Thor nodded, leaving at once to track down his friends. They reached the Bifrost at the same time as Loki, Katirya, and the party of guards.

Katirya handed the scrap of paper to Loki. "Here, you can show Thanos how smart you were to translate this!" She tugged his arm as they walked to the portal.

Loki stared down at the scrap of paper in his hands as he started walking through to the Bifrost. Suddenly he realized something was wrong – very wrong. He had to stop this trip.

"Wait!" Loki shouted just as they entered the Bifrost, but it was too late. They were whisked away to the Chitauri moon.

The instant they arrived, a roar of laughter greeted them, along with an army surrounding them. Their small group of guards were slain immediately.

"TAKE THEM!" the purple giant seated upon a throne shouted.

Loki, Thor, and the Warriors Three started to battle, even though the numbers were against them. Weapons slashed while fire erupted from Loki's spear, but it was all in vain. Eventually, they were brought down. Chains were placed around their arms and muzzles were put over their mouths. They were shoved roughly to the ground.

Loki glared up at Katirya. His eyes widened as he watched her morph into another being, a tall blue-skinned, female with long black hair stood where Katirya had just been. It hadn't been Katirya after all. Relief flooded him, then shame. _HOW _had he not known that the woman was not Katirya, his wife? He kicked himself mentally. He knew her intention had been to fool him, but he could not believe he had fallen for it.

"I see you have met my adopted daughter, Nebula," Thanos cackled. "Thank you, my child for retrieving these fools. Loki, it has been too long, has it not? I hear you are a father as well. I look forward to meeting your children soon… VERY soon." He leaned over and leered in Loki's face.

Loki struggled, but the chains binding him were tight. His eyes burned with hatred at Thanos as a trickle of blood fell down his face where a sword had slashed his forehead.

"Oh, yes. I am _so_ sorry you are unable to speak, but I agree. It is nice to see you once again," Thanos roared with laughter. "Take them to their new chambers. I had them prepared especially for you though you will not reside in them for long I fear. There is someone else who desperately wishes to meet with you once again."

Loki, Thor, and the Warriors Three were roughly yanked upright and pushed forward toward a cell. It was a single cell, sitting in the center of an empty plain. Pushed roughly inside, they heard the door lock behind them.

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

"I sure hope you know what you are doing with this unholy alliance," Sif muttered as they all began to meet up in the Bifrost chambers.

Katirya grinned at her. "So do I, for if I am wrong, we will all die." She glanced around the chamber, noticing her brother Micarian had just arrived with several troops. She walked up to him. "Mica, I am leaving you in charge of Asgard. Frigga will aid you, listen to her as she has been through similar situations." Frigga nodded as she heard the instructions. Katirya went on. "I am willing to wager that Thanos will be sending an attack, so be prepared. He has Loki and Thor, and probably figures Asgard to be leaderless."

"I agree, Kiri. But…" he glanced over to where Lorelei was being escorted in by a company of guards. "Are you certain this is the only way?"

Katirya nodded. "I do. I think he will grossly underestimate us since there are only four."

"I hope you are right," Micarian replied, then asked. "But, can you trust them?"

"Ah, right. I almost forgot about that. No, I cannot," Katirya turned to face Lorelei and Hela. "Just in case you two get any ideas about double-crossing me…"

"Why would we ever do that?" Lorelei purred.

"Oh, I do not know… maybe because you have done it before?" Katirya replied. "BUT, to be on the safe side," she flicked her wrist towards the two women, and a slim, metal band appeared on each of their wrists.

"WHAT is the meaning of this!" Hela screamed.

"IF either of you even _thinks _of double-crossing me, you will find yourselves bound together for eternity in that spot," Katirya hissed. "I do not trust either of you, but I have need of you. Now, once we have concluded our business arrangement, I shall remove those and provide you with what I have promised."

Lorelei and Hela both stared at the metal cuff then looked up at Katirya. Hela sighed. "So be it."

"Well, my little sister has indeed grown up," Micarian remarked. "So, are you taking the Thirteen?"

"Yes, but I do not believe Thanos will be expecting them, and they are well hidden right now," she replied.

"Are they here?" Sif asked, searching all corners of the room. "I do not see them."

Katirya nodded. "Yes, they are here. So, are we ready?" The three women nodded. "Heimdall, the Bifrost is closed to all until either myself or Loki commands otherwise. I shall have no need to hide my whereabouts on this trip. Keep your eyes on me. You know where I am going, correct?"

Heimdall nodded. "Yes, my Queen. It shall be as you command."

"What if you should fail?" Micarian asked.

"Then we are all doomed," Katirya replied, then led them into the Bifrost.

"Be swift!" Frigga called out as the four entered the Bifrost.

They arrived on the Chitauri moon to find it empty, devoid of any apparent life.

"Damn! He has taken them away already!" Katirya stomped her foot in anger.

"My, my, little one. So sad to see your adoring husband is gone already?" Thanos' voice came from behind them. "I do hope you said goodbye to your little rugrats. You will not be seeing them again either."

They whirled around to see he was standing there, with only Nebula by his side. There was no sign of any army.

"Why does everyone call me little?" Katirya mumbled.

Lorelei laughed. "Because you are."

Katirya shot her a look, then schooled her face to hide her emotions. His words meant he _had_ sent an army to attack. She had been correct about that. She was surprised to see only him and one other. The absence of a guard indicated he truly did not consider her a threat.

"Ah, Thanos, Ruler of the Universe, correct?" Katirya smiled at him.

"Indeed. Now, if you will just hand over the Stones you have collected." He held out a hand for it.

"Do you truly think I will simply hand them over to you?" Katirya looked at him as if he were crazed. "What are you going to offer in return, since it appears you no longer have my husband or his brother?"

"Oh, how about these three? They should be worth something," Thanos said disparagingly, pointing towards a box sitting upon the ground.

Nebula went over to the box and opened it up. The Warriors Three spilled out of it to lay motionless on the ground.

Sif gasped and started forward only to find herself being held back by Katirya. "But..."

Katirya shook her head. "Sorry, not enough. Those are simply three warriors; they are not worth the price of even one Stone. Where are Loki and Thor?"

Thanos laughed, a cruel evil sound. "Not here. Sorry."

"Well, then you cannot have these, not that I was planning on trading with them anyway," Katirya touched the tiara on her brow. She looked up at Thanos.

"Well, I could trade the lives of your children for them. I might permit them to live," Thanos offered with a cruel smile upon his lips.

"Hmmm, no. They are safe back on Asgard," Katirya shook her head.

"Safe? You do not know what safe is. I have sent my armies there to destroy Asgard. There will be nothing but rubble _if _I permit you to return. Maybe I will… that might be your fate. To live out the remainder of your life in a shell of Asgard, all that you love gone," Thanos appeared to contemplate this possible fate for her.

"Hmmm, sorry. Not exactly what I was planning today. Now, if you are done postulating my future, we shall be leaving. We will take these three as tokens of your good faith," Katirya nodded to Sif to go to the Warriors Three.

"STOP! You shall not move!" Thanos shouted.

"Who is going to stop me? You, and what army? Oh… wait… you sent them to Asgard, didn't you? They are in for a bit of a surprise when they arrive," Katirya laughed.

"Well, if you think you can trust those two with you…" Thanos pointed at Lorelei. "Stop her!"

"Sorry, she offered me a better deal than you did. I'm with her," Lorelei said nonchalantly.

"YOU WITCH!" Thanos shouted. "Nebula, destroy them now!"

Nebula advanced on the trio. "Sorry, ladies. Nothing personal."

"Are you sure you want to try this?" Katirya said with a soft warning in her voice. "What is he offering you? To be his Queen? Queen of the Universe?"

"You could have been my queen, but you refused," Thanos reminded her.

"I think Asgard's queen is sufficient. I do not need lofty titles to make myself feel better, especially empty titles," Katirya watched as Nebula closed in on them.

"You are so tiny; you shall be child's play to destroy," Nebula sneered as she continued to walk closer to them.

"Why does everyone pick on my height?" Katirya sighed. When Nebula was close enough to almost touch them, Katirya raised one hand. Nebula's eyes widened as she found herself suspended above the ground.

"PUT ME DOWN!" she screamed.

"If you insist," Katirya replied. The instant she finished speaking, she dropped her hand and Nebula crashed to the ground. As she tried to rise, she found the ground morphing into chains, reaching up to encircle her arms and legs.

"What madness is this?" Nebula shrieked as she found herself being stretched out on the ground. The chains continued to pull at her.

"Let her go!" Thanos roared, watching in dismay as Nebula was being pulled apart.

"Or what? You are going to destroy me? I may have underestimated you the first time we met, but not this time, Thanos," Katirya shouted back. She lifted one arm, and the chains snapped, releasing Nebula.

"Please, stop this!" Nebula cried, hugging her arms around her body. "Thanos, make it stop! Give her what she wants."

"NO!" Thanos bellowed.

"Oh, do not worry, Nebula. I will get what I want, after I finish with him," Katirya said. She walked towards the purple giant. "Your soul is mine!" Her eyes turned brilliant silver; flashing sparks erupted from her hands as she held them out towards Thanos. The Thirteen suddenly appeared behind her, wailing in ecstasy as they realized a new soul was going to join them, a soul they could torture until the end of time.

Thanos' mouth opened, then closed before he began to disintegrate. A wail came from the disappearing form of the purple giant before he was no more. The Thirteen shrieked, then disappeared.

Katirya closed her eyes briefly.

"What is to happen to me?" Nebula finally whimpered.

Katirya opened her eyes, ignoring Nebula. She nodded to Sif. "Get those three back to Eir. Take her with as well, secure her in the prisons until I return."

Sif nodded and ran towards the Warriors Three. Kneeling beside them, she looked up at Katirya. "They are barely alive."

"Then hurry," Katirya urged Sif. "As must we." She looked at Lorelei and Hela. "I do hope you are ready. This foray was just an appetizer for what we must now face." 

"You know where we are going? How?" Hela asked.

"HEIMDALL!" Katirya shouted, and the group was whisked back to Asgard.

Sif shouted for several guards to come assist her. Five surround Nebula, restraining her, while the others moved to aid the Warriors Three.

Katirya whirled back into the Bifrost, commanding Hela and Lorelei to attend her. "Heimdall?"

The guardian nodded, indicating the Bifrost was already reset for their next journey. Katirya stepped into it once more, a sense of urgency in her step now.


	15. Chapter 15: Havoc

Chapter 15: Havoc

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Muzzled and chained, Loki could do nothing. He struggled against the restraints for a few seconds before finally settling down. He glared out at the guards surrounding their cell, then looked over at Thor apologetically. How had he fallen into this trap? The shape-shifter that pretended to be Katirya had been good, he admitted that, but he should have known!

Thor returned his look and shook his head. Unable to speak either, he just looked at his brother.

Loki glanced out at the bodies of the slain guards. They had spared the Warriors Three with the brothers. He wondered what the reason was. Why just them?

They did not have long to wait. Thanos sent Nebula over to their cage. A heavily armed squad of guards escorted her.

"You three!" She pointed to Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg. "Over here, away from the door," she barked. As soon as they had moved, she opened the door. "Now, you two, come with me. My master has plans for you."

As Loki and Thor exited the cell, she slammed the door shut, then looked back at the Warriors Three. "Oh, do not worry. We have plans for you as well." She smiled evilly at them, and then motioned for the guards to move Loki and Thor along.

The brothers were brought before Thanos. "Kneel!" Nebula commanded.

Loki looked at his brother and shook his head. Thor nodded. Neither kneeled.

"I said, kneel before your master! Thanos, Supreme Ruler of the Universe!" Nebula snarled.

When neither moved to kneel, she motioned for the guards. They hit the backs of the brothers' knees with their spears, forcing them to drop to the ground.

Loki glared up at Thanos.

"I understand your _reluctance _to accept my title, but as you can see, I am sitting here free and you are not. I suggest you become accustomed to it, for what little is left of your miserable lives," Thanos sneered at them.

Loki's mind whirled. '_What was he planning for them?_'

"Nebula!" Thanos shouted. "Please send our _guests _to their new owners."

_'Owners? He had sold them? Who had bought him and his brother and more importantly… why?' _Loki thought.

Nebula grinned. "With pleasure, my Lord." She nodded to the guards, and they forced Loki and Thor to follow her. They were forced onto a ship and chained to seats in a tiny cell that had clearly been made to transport them.

"Have a nice flight, and I do hope you enjoy your new home," Nebula waved at them as she closed the door.

Loki felt the ship lift off the Chitauri moon. He strained to see where they were going, but several boxes blocked his view. They flew for several hours until he felt the ship land.

Loki was hauled to his feet and forced down the ramp. The instant he looked around, he realized where he was. He would be lucky to escape here alive.

The guards pushed the brothers forward.

"The rest of the money?" one demanded.

Loki watched as multiple spears flew through the air impaling each of the guards, killing them instantly. He wondered what his fate would be.

• •_**Frigga•**__**•**_

Micarian walked into Frigga's chambers. "Kiri just returned with the Warriors Three."

"What of my sons?" Frigga asked.

"She left almost immediately, taking those two hell-witches with her," Micarian replied.

"She trusts them, for some reason. She feels she needs them. We have to believe she is making the right decision. Obviously they have not double-crossed her yet," Frigga said.

"True, but I do not," Micarian admitted. "Sif has remained on Asgard. She will be joining us as soon as she sees to the Warriors Three. They were severely injured."

"How bad?"

"They will survive," Sif's voice came from the door. She walked into the room and sat down. "They were mostly unharmed. Fandral said they were ambushed the instant they arrived."

"Why did they go in the first place?" Frigga asked.

"A shape-shifter, pretending to be Kiri," Sif explained.

"She fooled Loki?" Frigga was astounded.

Sif nodded. "Fandral said she was good, and managed to make it sound urgent. She did not give them any chance to think – just react. Loki tried to stop them, but they were already in the portal. But, we do not have much time to talk. Fandral also said that Thanos was sending an army here. We saw no signs of any army when we arrived. The moon was essentially deserted, and Thanos made threats towards the children. Kiri said we had to assume he had dispatched them prior to our arrival."

"All is ready," Micarian replied quietly. "What of Thanos? How did you manage to escape with the Warriors Three?"

"Thanos is dead, or rather, Kiri stole his soul. She gave it to the Thirteen," Sif explained.

Micarian visibly winced. "The Thirteen? I do not envy him. What of Loki and Thor?"

"They were not there, but Kiri seemed to know this already. She left almost immediately with Hela and Lorelei," Sif replied.

"Kiri can see, and unless Loki was trying to hide his location, she would know where he is. Did your brother say where they went?" Frigga asked.

Sif shook her head. "I did not ask."

An explosion outside the palace stopped their conversation.

"Thanos' army is here! Frigga, stay with the children. Sif, come with me!" Micarian shouted.

Frigga watched as the two left. She walked over to where the children were taking a nap and stared down at them. "I hope your mother can find your father… and his brother. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Do you have any idea where the boys are?" Gaea asked.

Frigga looked at her. "No, but Heimdall will. I will send a messenger out to him. I need to know."

Four guards burst into the room. "My ladies, you must take cover. Follow us!"

Without a question, the two women scooped up the three children and followed the guards. They ran through the palace eventually ending up in the Vaults.

"The Vaults, of course," Frigga said as they ran into the first chamber. The doors to the Vaults slammed shut behind them.

Gaea looked at her. "Is this the safest place?"

Frigga nodded. "Yes, if Asgard falls, this will be the last place taken."

"How will we know what is going on?" Gaea asked.

"Follow me," Frigga smiled. She walked through several chambers, finally stopping in one. "The Orb of Agamotto. We should be able to at least see what is happening in the city."

Frigga set Aud and Sverre down on a blanket and then moved over to the Orb. Placing her hands upon it, she stared into it. "It goes well. Thanos was ill prepared for this battle. It looks like Asgard shall prevail."

"May I look?" Gaea asked.

"Indeed. Here, let me take Kai." Frigga stepped away from the Orb and took the young boy from Gaea.

Gaea peered into the Orb for several seconds. "It does look good for Asgard." She looked back into the Orb. "Oh no!" She shouted.

"What? What has happened?" Frigga was suddenly alarmed. "Are we losing?"

"No, no. It is not Asgard; the city is safe. It is Thor and Loki!" Gaea wailed.

_**~§~ Lady Sif ~§~**_

Sif raced after Micarian as they headed to the city's walls.

Micarian looked at her. "You know the city better than I. What should we do?"

Two ships had appeared but were shot down the instant they were sighted. The city's defenses were rallying to the fight.

She realized that the year Katirya had been missing, the year Loki had been so insistent upon training, had been worth it. "I think we simply need to lead. Loki spent a year, when your sister was missing, forcing us to prepare for an invasion such as this. Although then, he thought it would be Kiri leading the battle against Asgard."

A loud explosion sounded as one ship appeared and was able to launch a volley of fire towards the city.

"We need to discover who is leading this battle!" She finally shouted over the noise. "Target them!"

Micarian nodded. "This way then!" He darted off towards the tower on one of the walls. Climbing up, they reached the top of the wall. Cheers from the soldiers and guards lining the walls greeted them.

Sif started shouting out orders. It was almost like one of the many drills they had repeated over and over. The soldiers moved into position and the instant any enemy appeared, they were fired upon and destroyed.

Sif pointed to one ship that was hanging back, out of range of the city's weapons. "That one!"

Micarian nodded. "Let's go!"

Sif shouted out a round of orders to continue as she left. They raced back down the stairway and ran to the gates.

Heimdall met them at the gates. "I have closed the Bifrost. There is a ship over here!"

Dodging flashes from the enemy's weapons, they made it to the ship. Heimdall moved to the controls, starting it up as Sif and Micarian sat down at the weapon console. Four guards had joined them and also moved to man the various weapons upon the ship.

As they took off, Micarian shouted. "Aim for that ship!" He pointed to the one they had seen from the wall.

Heimdall nodded and skillfully steered the ship towards their target. The enemy ships, discerning their intention, broke off their attack on the city to focus on the ship. Two of the guards focused on shooting towards these attackers.

Three of the attacking ships exploded within seconds, leaving two still chasing them.

"Try to bring it down, not destroy it, if you can!" Sif shouted.

Heimdall drew closer to the ship they had targeted. As he closed in, it turned to flee.

"Stop it!" Micarian shouted as their ship rocked from a blast. "Do not let it escape. Destroy if we must!"

Blasts of fire erupted from their ship, targeting the enemy. Two shots were direct hits, causing the enemy ship to list. Smoke began to spiral upwards as the ship fell. They watched as it hit the ground, and then exploded.

"Damn! I was hoping we could learn something from them. I wonder who was on board?" Sif said.

As their ship was hit once again by enemy fire, Heimdall turned it around to face the two remaining enemy ships. "Shall we destroy them?"

Micarian looked at Sif. She nodded. "Yes, destroy them. Put an end to this."

They fired upon the enemy ships, destroying them completely. Heimdall piloted their ship back to the city gates. They exited the ship, heading back into the city. Soldiers were working at cleaning up the mess left by the attack.

One of the palace guards approached their party. "My Lord?"

"Yes?" Micarian looked at him.

"Shall we retrieve the Lady Frigga and the children?"

"Yes, please. Sif, do you think this was the entire army Thanos sent?" Micarian asked.

Sif shrugged. "I do not know. Thanos seemed fairly confident, boasting about how he was going to capture the children." They were walking back into the palace. "I do not think Kiri would leave the children if she felt we could not adequately defend them."

"But she was going after her husband," Micarian pointed out. "Which would be her priority? The children or Loki?"

Sif thought about it. She knew the safety of her children was important to Katirya, but would her love of her husband overcome any thoughts of the children? "I honestly do not know. She refused to return to Asgard after Kai was born, afraid of Loki… but she does love him. I think it was her love of him that also kept her away. You know her better than any of us; you are her brother."

"True, but I really did not know her. Our father, rather, my father kept me away from her. She was hidden in the country for most of her life. This Kiri, she is different from the one I knew," Micarian replied as they reached the Throne room.

Frigga entered behind them. "I know where Loki and Thor are."

"How?" Sif cried.

"We used the Orb of Agamotto. We were able to view the battle, and then Gaea searched for them," Frigga explained. She set Kai down. Kai lifted himself up and began to toddle around the room, heading straight for the steps leading to the throne. Mjölnir rested at the base of the steps.

"What is that doing here? Did Thor not take it with him?" Sif asked, amazed to see the hammer still here.

"I…" Frigga started, then shook her head. "No, it was there last night. It would seem after his talk with Loki he never returned up here. But I would think he would have called for it when they left."

"Unless he chose Earth," Sif said quietly.

Frigga shook her head. "No, it was Asgard he chose, Kiri told us that was his decision."

"But, why then would he leave Mjölnir here, knowing he was going to face Thanos?" Sif asked. "That does not make sense."

"No, it does not. But… we need to talk to the Warriors Three. They were with the brothers when they left… when that shape-shifter convinced them to leave. Maybe they can shed some light on this mystery," Sif said. She started towards the door, and then paused, looking back at Gaea. "You said you knew where they were?"

Gaea nodded but did not speak.

"Are they still alive?" Sif asked.

"Barely," Gaea replied.

**Author's Note: **_I always appreciate reviews, and I always try to reply back. I realize not everyone is going to like my story, but please note that one tiny word = MY. This is my interpretation of the characters and they behave how I desire them to. If you think a certain character should do something differently - that is perfectly fine - but do not tell me they cannot do it in my story. I simply suggest you write your own story. That said, I recently had a "guest" review, and it brought this concept up. Normally I approve all reviews (Negative or positive- everyone is entitled to their own opinion), but this was was denied for one basic reason - foul language. If you wish to get a comment back from me, either PM me, or make sure you are logged in to FFN to post a review. _


	16. Chapter 16: Rime or Reason

**Author's Note: **_I hope you are continuing to enjoy this series. There is so much more to cover. Winter break is coming for me so I should have a bit more time to update more frequently. Again – reviews are always welcome. IF you see an "error", please just PM me so I can fix it. _

_And if you are not following me as an author, I did post a Loki-Kiri mature one-shot last week - "Persuaded". If you read Persuade Me, I decided to take that a bit further. It is labeled for 18+, and is my first fanfic that is more mature. Let me know what you think of it. I might be tempted to write a few more.  
><em>

Chapter 16: Rime or Reason

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Loki was grabbed roughly from behind and lifted up as he watched Thanos' guards die. He felt the muzzle being ripped off and briefly considered fleeing, but he knew his magic was limited without the use of his hands.

"Thor?" Loki rasped, his throat dry from lack of water.

"I am still here," his brother replied.

A sharp cuff from one of the new guards warned him to be silent and then he was roughly lifted up and tossed over the shoulder of one.

He was thrown down face first onto the ground. Wincing in pain, he spit the dirt out of his mouth. Someone grabbed his hair, jerking it roughly as he was forced to look up. He stared into the eyes of his captor.

Ice-blue eyes stared down at him. A deep, rumbling laugh greeted his look. "Welcome, sons of Odin."

When neither Loki nor Thor offered a reply, one of the guards kicked him roughly in the ribs. He felt bones snap. He tried not to show pain, but the laughter around him told him that he was not successful. He risked a glance towards Thor, who was standing next to him.

"What? Nothing to say to greet your old friend? Your family?" his captor sneered. "We must be at least cousins, if nothing else."

"Cousins, right," Loki finally said.

"Well, _cousin_ – I do hope you were not planning on staying long," his captor roared with laughter. "And _cousin_… I hear your daddy is dead, so he cannot come and save you boys. Sorry. Boys – I think a bit of target practice is planned for today."

Loki felt cold hands claw at him, ripping his clothes off as they dragged him away from the leader. The last thing he saw was an ice wall before he was knocked unconscious.

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya glanced at her two companions the instant they arrived on Jotunheim.

"Well…" Lorelei drawled. "You could have at least told me to bring along a jacket or something."

"Sorry, forgot. I will try to remember next time, but I do not think we will be here long. Just long enough to find what is ours," Katirya replied. She looked around and then pointed. "This way."

The three women started walking through the dark forest. They had not gone far when the trees faded away to reveal a large open space. Walls of ice encircled the opening. Several hundred Frost Giants were gathered there.

The sight that greeted the three women caused them to stop in place. Two men were strapped naked to the ice wall. Various Jotun were taking target practice, using them as the targets. Blood dripped down from their bodies and the ice they were chained to was stained with their blood.

"Do not show a thing!" Hela hissed at Katirya as she realized the men were Loki and Thor.

Katirya darted an angry glance at her, then nodded, realizing she was correct. "They will pay for this," she said through clenched teeth.

"Indeed, but oh my," Lorelei practically drooled. "So, so pretty. I would not mind that hanging up on my wall at home… in my bedroom of course."

"Hmmm, I would prefer them _in_ my bed actually," Hela retorted. "But, first we must rescue them. How droll, I never thought I would ever have to save Loki. Cannot say that I mind, but really? How did he get into this?"

"That ought to be an interesting story," Lorelei said.

Katirya shot them both a menacing look, and then realized they were trying to take her mind off the tortured men and back to their mission.

Several Frost Giants approached them.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" the leader of the group said.

Katirya stopped and looked at the Frost Giant. "You are in my way."

"Really? I am _so _sorry. Do let me help you, a poor helpless female… or rather, three helpless females. So fragile, you might break… or freeze," the leader said.

Katirya looked towards her husband. Blood was flowing freely from his body. She tried speaking to him with her thoughts, but he was not conscious. She returned her attention to Aerinmud. He was taller than the other Frost Giants, and unlike the others, he had dark curly hair. Katirya noticed a huge disgusting wart-like mole, just sitting there on his extremely long neck; a neck that was almost swan-like – something that went against the rest of his appearance. His eyes were almond-shaped, and ice blue, the same color of the ice of Jotunheim.

"Who are you?" Katirya asked.

"Aerinmud Hróðvitnisson," the giant replied. "And that is my cousin over there on the left." He pointed towards Loki.

"Interesting, I thought most people were nice to their relatives," Katirya replied.

"Only those we like," Aerinmud glared down at the three women. "Claims to be the King of Asgard," Aerinmud paused to laugh heartily. Several others near joined in. "Does not look much like a king, now does he?" He bent over to peer at Katirya. "And who are you?"

"I am Katirya, Queen of Asgard, and that is my husband you hold over there. Along with his brother. Release them at once," Katirya demanded.

"Katirya? That is a funny name. It does not sound Asgardian," Aerinmud commented.

"I am from Cartherion," Katirya replied.

"Cartherion…. that is right. Thanos mentioned you… said you were to be _his _wife. Not the wife of that foolish god. Called you Kiri," Aerinmud straightened up.

"My friends may call me Kiri. I do not count you among my friends," Katirya replied. "But I have not come here to exchange _pleasantries _with the likes of you."

"So, what brings you to visit us?"

"I have come to make you an offer," Katirya replied.

"Oh? An offer?" Aerinmud chuckled. "What could _you _have that _I _want? I think it is I who have what you want."

"I am here to offer you your life. Just release those two, and we will spare you," Katirya said.

"Spare me?" Aerinmud laughed hysterically. Several other giants joined into his laughter. "Spare me from what? YOU? You are just a little female, an Asgardian. We are at war with Asgard. I shall give you an offer. I think you will find me even better than the tiny half-god over there." He grabbed his crotch as he moved towards her.

"Really?" Katirya raised one eyebrow as he approached. "I highly doubt you could satisfy me. I have heard tales that Frost Giants are tiny down there. But, at the risk of repeating myself, that is not what I am here for. Am I to take it you are refusing my offer?"

"You will spare my life for them? Sorry, they are mine. I may allow them to live a bit longer, but they deserve to die. Odin and his sons deserve death for what they have done to us!" Aerinmud roared.

"Then death it shall be," Katirya looked at him. "Your death."

Aerinmud threw back his head and laughed. "My death? You amuse me. I might permit you to live. But you are puny… tiny… what can you do to me? None of you even bothered to bring any weapons. Not that it matters… GUARDS!"

At his shout, several giants moved to surround the women.

Lorelei winked at Katirya. "My turn." She sashayed up to one and reached up to touch his chin. "Now, you wouldn't want to hurt me, would you?"

The giant smiled dreamily at her.

Aerinmud shouted. "She is trying to bewitch you; you fool!"

His words fell on deaf ears as the three guards around the women were all smiling with naked longing at Lorelei.

"Follow me, boys." She walked away, trailed by the Frost Giant guards Aerinmud had commanded to capture them. Once she had successfully enticed them far enough away, Katirya turned to face Lorelei and her group. She lifted one hand, and a net dropped over the guards.

Lorelei skipped back to join them. "That was fun!"

"Now, as you were saying?" Katirya turned to face Aerinmud once again.

Aerinmud stared dumbfounded by the captured guards. "What witchery is this? I shall just kill you myself!" He drew his sword out, raising it above his head.

As the blade descended, Katirya whirled in a circle, dipping down to touch the ice. When her fingers came upwards, knife-like slivers of ice shot upwards into Aerinmud's ice-blue eyes, killing him instantly.

The instant Aerinmud's body hit the ground a shout went up from the Frost Giants closest to him. Weapons were raised as they advanced upon the three women.

"Hela?" Katirya smiled grimly at the woman. "I think it is time to turn the heat on, don't you?"

"Oh, yes…" Hela purred. She raised her arms up and fires sprouted from the trees at the edge of the opening. Anything that was not ice began to burn, except for the Frost Giants. They began howling. Several ran around attempting to put out the fires.

"STOP! STOP THE FIRES!" one giant screamed in agony.

The temperature began to rise as the fires increased and the ice slowly began to melt slowly.

"Sorry, it is just too cold here," Hela grinned.

"Come on!" Katirya shouted to Lorelei, racing towards the brothers hanging on the ice wall.

"What will happen to them? Why are they screaming so?" Lorelei asked as they ran.

"They will shrink, become smaller, more like us." Katirya had reached the ice wall, realizing she was too short to reach Loki.

Lorelei grabbed a bench, dragging it towards the wall. "Here! Help!"

Seeing what Lorelei had, Katirya ran back to help. Between them, they lugged the heavy bench to the wall. Standing on it, Katirya reached up and cut the binding holding Loki up. He fell onto her, and they tumbled to the ground. Hela joined the two women and with Lorelei's help, cut down Thor.

"NO!" Katirya wailed.

Hela and Lorelei looked to see what had caused Katirya's shriek. Katirya was holding Loki in her arms, weeping hysterically. Hela handed Thor off to Lorelei and moved to help Katirya. "What is it?" she asked.

Katirya did not respond but leaned back giving Hela a better view of Loki.

Hela stared at the wounds on Loki. His body was riddled with multiple wounds, but it was his neck that had sustained the worst of the attacks. At least one of the arrows had pierced his jugular vein. "We have to get him back to Asgard. The healers…"

"Cannot do anything for him," Katirya sobbed, hugging her husband closer. "I should have come here first. I… I… Thanos…"

"Katirya! Snap out of it. You know you had to deal with Thanos first. We have to get him back now! There is still life in him, although not much. And if we do not get them back, he WILL die," Hela shouted back. "HEIMDALL!"

The rainbow effect surrounded them. The last thing they saw as they departed was Jotunheim consumed in flames.

"We need to get to the healers at once!" Hela commanded the instant they arrived in the Bifrost chambers. She was holding Thor, her body wrapped around him trying to warm him up. The cold had affected him more than Loki.

Heimdall took one look at the group and nodded. "I cannot send you via the Bifrost…"

Micarian and Sif raced into the Bifrost chambers.

Sif was the first to spot Thor lying on the ground with Hela. "What happened?"

"They were using them for target practice," Lorelei replied. "Their primary target was Loki, but they were not too far behind with Thor. The cold did slow down the blood loss, but…" she gestured towards where Loki lay in Katirya's arms. "He has lost almost all his blood I think. We need to move them to the healers at once."

"The ship!" Micarian shouted.

"Indeed," Heimdall walked over and gently touched Katirya. "My Queen?"

Katirya rose, tears flowing down her face, and allowed Heimdall to lift Loki. He carried his King to the ship, setting him down. Micarian, knowing he could not move Thor, stepped over to comfort his sister. She leaned into him as he guided her onto the ship to sit next to her husband.

"Mica," Katirya sobbed as she stared down at Loki's lifeless body. "He is not even breathing."

"Shhh. The healers will take care of him," Micarian soothed her. "Remember, the cold slowed his body functions down."

"I should have gone there first. I _knew _they were in trouble."

"Kiri, you did not know how bad it was. And you had to deal with Thanos. What happened?" Micarian asked.

Katirya filled him in as she watched Heimdall easily lift Thor up and move him onto the ship. Hela once more sat beside him, allowing her body heat to continue to warm his body. As soon as both brothers were settled, the others boarded the ship. Heimdall quickly took off, heading towards the city.

_**Author's Note: **__I always appreciate reviews, and I always try to reply back unless you post as a "Guest" review (not logged into FFN). I realize not everyone is going to like my story, but please note that one tiny word = MY. This is my interpretation of the characters and they behave how I desire them to. If you think a certain character should do something differently - that is perfectly fine - but do not tell me they cannot do it in my story. I simply suggest you write your own story._


	17. Chapter 17: Exigent

Chapter 17: Exigent

_**~Asgard~**_

"So, where ARE they?" Sif demanded.

Frigga looked helplessly at Gaea who simply nodded back, then said, "Go ahead, tell them."

"Jotunheim," Frigga answered.

"WHAT?" Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg shouted simultaneously.

"They will kill them both!" Fandral added.

"I know, and they are doing a fairly good job of it. I do hope Kiri is in time," Frigga replied. "You said she left right away?"

"Yes," Sif nodded. "But what do you mean, are they almost dead already? How?"

"They are torturing them, I think," Gaea said. "Without actually being there, that is the best we can tell."

"We must go at once to help them!" Fandral roared. "The Jotun deserve to die for this!"

"Do not rush off in such haste. That is not all we saw," Gaea said quietly. "There are more ships approaching. That first attack was just the beginning."

"More?" Sif gasped.

"Yes, more," Frigga confirmed. She glanced at Gaea before going on. "Thanos has indeed created an army - an army that he intends to use to rule the Universe. Or rather, _intended_ since he is dead now. Someone will step forward to take his place. Rest assured of that."

Micarian sighed heavily. "How ready are we for a larger scale attack?"

"More than ready," Hogun replied. "And as much as I almost regret saying it, it seems Loki's continual training is coming in handy. I guess he knew more than we thought."

"I agree. It was relentless, but we are ready. If I may?" Volstagg looked at Micarian.

"Go ahead. You men, and women, know the city's defenses better than I," Micarian replied. "Frigga, who do you believe is commanding the army now?"

"I do not know, but I suspect someone was hiding behind Thanos. Using him as a puppet, considering that the army is still planning to attack. Perhaps they will show their hand," Frigga replied.

"Someone else? More powerful?" Sif asked, her face reflecting the surprise she felt at this information.

"Oh, there are many more powerful beings in the Universe than Thanos. He just _thought_ he was the most powerful of them," Frigga replied with a glance at Gaea. "Any thoughts?"

"It could be one of many," Gaea replied. "I would suspect a few more than others, but until they make an appearance we are just speculating. Whoever it is, Thanos was most likely following their orders and figured to betray them for his own purposes."

"So Kiri foiled that plan. I wonder if they will make themselves known now?" Sif asked.

"Well, we can talk all we wish about it, but I think we need to plan for this coming attack first," Micarian interrupted their conversation.

"Indeed," Volstagg concurred. "Sif, if you can round up the palace guards and get them in place, we need to protect the children."

"We shall take them back to the vaults. That seems to be the most secure area," Frigga said. "Plus we can use the Orb if we need to."

"Excellent. Did you happen to get any indication of how large this incoming force is?" Volstagg asked.

"Not entirely, but it made what already hit us look small," Frigga replied.

"Hmmm," Volstagg growled. "Hogun, head out and speak to Heimdall. Warn him of what is coming. Maybe he can detect them and advise us."

Hogun nodded and left immediately. Volstagg barked out a few more orders then everyone took off to ready for the impending invasion.

~O~O~O~

Sif rejoined Micarian on the city walls once she had organized the palace guards. They watched in silence as the troops moved into position awaiting the impending attack.

"Loki was not too far off the mark, I suppose," Sif admitted. "Although it was not Katirya we needed to worry about."

"No, Kiri would never attack. My personal feeling on her is that she would not have been happy ruling," Micarian replied.

"Really?" Sif looked at him in surprise. "Why do you say that?"

"She gave me rule of Cartherion, even though she is the rightful ruler. She is happier as the wife of Loki. That is what I think," Micarian answered.

Sif considered his response for a few seconds before answering. "I think you might be right, but she is powerful. Why would she choose to set aside the power?"

"Oh, she hasn't set it aside. She just seems to defer to her position as the wife of the King of Asgard. But, she would be content to simply be Loki's wife, whether he were king or not. That is just my opinion. I could be wrong, but…" Micarian shrugged. "She lived so much in the country I feel she prefers a position where she is not the ruler."

"She has spoken of that often in our talks. And I think your father had a lot to do with her feelings. He expected her to marry Thanos. I do not believe Thanos would have been happy with a powerful wife. She was fortunate one of her half-brothers sought her out and trained her to use some of her powers," Sif said.

Micarian laughed. "You are probably correct. My father did intend that, and he had no clue that she was being trained. In many ways, I almost feel sorry for Kiri, being pulled in so many directions. She never really knew who she was until she came her. And even then, it has been a struggle for her. Look what happened when she first went up against Thanos."

"Indeed," Fandral said as he joined them. "And it was a hellish year while she was gone. But, I guess we can thank her for that. We are more than ready for any attack."

"All is ready then?" Micarian asked.

"It is. Hogun has alerted Heimdall, and we are simply waiting now. They are in for a rude welcome when they do arrive," Fandral replied grimly. He glanced down at the city, noting the streets were deserted. "Everyone has taken refuge or moved to a battle position. Just as we planned."

A siren sounded in the distance.

"And so it begins," Micarian spoke softly, looking towards the sky.

Within seconds, several ships appeared firing upon the city. Micarian looked in surprise when there was no immediate response. "What is happening?" he shouted.

"Patience," Fandral replied and then pointed towards the east.

Micarian looked, his eyes widening as he saw thousands of Asgardian ships fly up heading towards the attackers. "I did not know there were that many…"

"Oh, that is just the beginning," Sif smiled. "Loki left nothing out."

The Asgardian forces quickly moved to surround the first of the enemy. A brief battle was all it took to wipe the first attackers out, but they were soon supplemented by a larger enemy force as thousands of ships appeared on the horizon. Fire erupted from the city as several attackers broke off to focus on the city itself. Other enemy ships began darting around, firing randomly at various targets within the city and along the borders.

One enemy ship managed to land, and a troop of soldiers emerged to begin hand-to-hand combat within the city. Troops raced out of nearby buildings to engage them. Several more enemy ships landed supplementing the foot soldiers. The ground attack was in full swing as Sif and the others watched from above.

"Come on!" Sif shouted. "Let us get down there!" She took off, followed closely by the others. They raced to the lower levels and entered the street where the ground battle was ongoing. They joined in, noticing Volstagg and Hogun entering from the other side with a larger company of troops.

The hand-to-hand combat was fierce, but eventually the enemies were subdued.

"Take them to the prisons!" Volstagg shouted.

The guards rounded up the remaining enemy soldiers and herded them off to the prisons. Volstagg looked to the skies, seeing the battle in the air was still going on. He growled low in his throat. "We need to see what we can do to help that."

"Aye, but what? Are not all our ships out there?" Hogun shouted over the noise of the battle.

"No, not all…." Volstagg smiled. "Follow me!"

They raced after Volstagg as he darted down first one street then another, finally arriving at a building on the edge of the city. He threw open the door, then pointed to a ship. "Ready?"

They scrambled aboard, looking around at the interior of the ship. "Why have I never seen this before?" Sif asked.

"Loki kept it secret. He only showed it to me in case we needed it. It is actually one he created for himself, but given that he is not here at the moment, I do not think he will mind if I use it," Volstagg said.

"After all, we are saving Asgard, are we not?" Fandral replied with a grin. "FOR ASGARD!" rang out his shout as the ship lifted off and flew up to join the battle.

They each moved to one of the guns as Volstagg steered the ship up.

"Loki sure knew what he was doing with this one," Hogun said as he played with the controls. Rapid blasts of fire erupted from his gun, decimating the three ships in his view.

The addition of the new ship to the air battle quickly brought it to a close. The sheer numbers of the Asgardians overwhelmed the enemy ships. Once all were destroyed, Volstagg landed the ship on the city's edge. Several other enemy ships had managed to land small numbers of foot soldiers into the city, but the ground troops had either killed or captured them.

"Well, that was fun," Fandral commented as he looked around. The city barely showed any signs of attack.

"Indeed!" Volstagg agreed. "Sif, do you want to go let Frigga know it is safe to bring the children back out?"

"No need," Frigga appeared behind them. "We watched it all. Where did you get that?" she said as she pointed to their ship.

"Loki designed it. Kept it secret," Volstagg replied.

"Indeed." She looked it over. "I like it."

Volstagg laughed. "Well, we can return it to him without a scratch. Or, we could put it away and claim we never used it."

"I do not believe that would work," Sif pointed to a few scorch marks on the outer hull. "I wonder when they will be back?"

"They just arrived at the Bifrost," Gaea spoke up.

"They are back?" Micarian asked, joy in his voice. "Let us go greet them."

"Heimdall is bringing them to the city," Sif replied pointing out a ship that was fast approaching.

They watched as Heimdall guided the ship to a clearing. Eir appeared behind them with a group of healers.

"Eir?" Frigga asked, looking at her curiously. "Why are you here?"

Gaea moved over to touch Frigga's shoulder. "Be brave, my lady."

"Why? What do you know? What did you see? What are you not telling me?" Frigga asked.

The ship landed and the doors opened. Katirya was the first out and spotted the healers immediately. "Eir! Quickly, you must help them!"

Frigga saw the tears on Katirya's face. "What happ…" she quit speaking as she saw the bodies of her sons being carried off the ship. Tears welled in her eyes. "NO!"

Eir organized the transfer of the brothers from the ship to the healers. Word traveled quickly through the city regarding the condition of Loki and Thor. People followed the procession in silence and gathered to wait outside the healers.

Loki was placed on one of the beds adjacent to his brother. Eir started working on him at once. She shook her head sadly after a few minutes. "I am sorry my Queen, but there is nothing we can do. The soul forge simply cannot replace that much blood. He has lost all of it. He is dead," Eir spoke softly, placing a hand on Katirya's shoulder. "We must accept that and do what we can for Thor." She nodded to the healers, who moved away from Loki's body and went to work on Thor.


	18. Chapter 18: Life's Blood

**Author's Note**: _Sorry to keep everyone hanging for so long but life just got crazy. Had to finish up final exams and grades at work, then my final project for my course. Followed this up with a mini-vacation to the Shire of Kentucky to meet up with many of my Lord of the Rings friends to attend a showing of the final installment of The Hobbit. But… enough said – here you go. _

Chapter 18 - Life's Blood

"I am sorry, my Queen, but Loki is dead. There is nothing we can do for him," Eir said quietly.

"NO! I will NOT accept that!" Katirya shouted, roughly pushing Eir's hand away. She swallowed hard, staring at the lifeless form of her husband, tears streaming down her face. Her hands went to her head and as she felt the tiara, her eyes suddenly gleamed brightly. She pulled the tiara off her head, staring intently at it. Plucking the blue Tesseract gem from it, she manipulated it until the large cube once more was revealed.

"My Queen! What are you doing?" Eir shouted.

Katirya ignored her. Focusing solely on the Tesseract, she suddenly disappeared.

"Where did she go?" Sif shouted.

Hela looked up from the bed where she was still wrapped around Thor, keeping him warm. "Back. Back to Jotunheim."

"Why?" Sif asked. "And how do you know?"

"I am not certain," Hela replied with a shrug. "I just know." She moved away from Thor as Eir and the healers approached.

"You have done well by warming him up," Eir praised Hela as she quickly inspected Thor. "We must treat these wounds, but they are more superficial than those his brother received. Mai, attend to these, while I mix up some herbs to help the healing."

Eir turned away to leave the room when suddenly Katirya reappeared. "MY QUEEN!"

"Kiri!" Micarian shouted, staring at the visage of his little sister. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

Everyone in the room started shouting. Katirya stood in the middle of the room, dripping in blood that covered her from head to toe. She was breathing hard, staring at Loki, the Tesseract still in her hands. The Tesseract glowed eerily, coated in blood as well.

She walked to the bed where Loki's body lay, leaving a grisly trail of blood behind her. She reached the bedside and closed her eyes. Raising the Tesseract up, she spun it gently and released it. It rose out of her hands and whirled above her head. The blood floated off her body and collected in suspended pools around the rotating cube. She raised her arms over the bed, and the pools followed. With a clap of her hands, the Tesseract stopped turning, and the blood fell, raining down upon Loki. His body was coated with blood for several seconds, and then it all disappeared.

The Tesseract clattered to the floor as Katirya collapsed unconscious on top of Loki.

Everyone stared at the body of the dead King, watching the color slowly return to his skin, no longer the pallor of death. The gaping wounds on his body had disappeared. His chest rose and fell as he began to breath. Everyone gasped as Loki's eyelids fluttered open.

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Loki felt a weight upon his chest. As he opened his eyes, he discovered Katirya draped over him, splattered with blood. "KIRI!" his arms grabbed her, pulling her closer. It was then he realized he was completely naked. "What happened?" he asked, utterly confused as he looked around the room.

He sat up, cradling his wife. Looking around the room, he saw faces reflecting complete astonishment. He repeated his question. "What happened?"

Hela was the first to reply. She moved away from Thor to approach him. Her gaze raked his naked form before finally meeting his eyes. "Nice you see you up and alive again. Do you not remember anything?"

Loki stared back at her, unaffected by her brazen look. He blinked several times, shaking his head. "No… wait… yes. Thanos. Thanos said he had sold us. Thor!" His gaze darted to the other bed where Eir and her fellow healers had been working.

"He will be fine," Eir said. "But you…" She walked over to stand next to Loki's bed. She reached out to take Katirya.

Loki clutched Katirya closer to him. "What happened to her? Why is she covered in blood? Where is she hurt? Why are you not attending to her?"

"It is your blood, my King," Eir replied quietly.

Loki raked one hand through his hair, trying to figure out this puzzle. "But… I know she did not attempt to kill me. I know that. Who…? Areinmud!" His memories came flooding back. "How?"

Hela shrugged. "We missed your, ah, _delivery_ to Jotunheim, so I cannot quite explain everything. When we arrived, we found you and Thor tied up to the ice wall, and the Frost Giants were using you for target practice."

"Well, they must not have been very good if we are still alive," Loki joked.

Absolute silence greeted his comment. No one spoke for several long moments.

"What? What is it?" Loki asked looking from one to another.

Finally, Eir answered him. "You were dead, my King, when you arrived back here. Your wife saved you."

"Dead?" Loki looked at her, confused.

At that moment, Katirya stirred in his arms and took a deep breath letting it out in a sigh. She rolled her head back and opened her eyes staring up at Loki. "It _did_ work," she muttered. She closed her eyes once more with a slight moan, snuggling closer to Loki for a brief moment, then her eyes flew open. "IT WORKED!" she shouted, flinging her arms around his neck. "You are alive!"

"So it seems. I was unaware that I had been dead until Eir informed me of that minor detail. Can you explain what happened?" Loki looked down at her.

"Thor? How is he?" Katirya asked before answering.

"I am fine," Thor's voice came from the other bed. He rose half up in the bed, and then groaned. "Well, perhaps not precisely fine, but I am alive. What is this about Loki being dead?"

"That is what I am attempting to find out," Loki replied. "Kiri, explain yourself. Did you hare off after my brother and me? Putting youself in danger? And why are Hela _and_ Lorelei here?"

"Oh, them…" Katirya chewed on her lower lip for a moment, electing to respond to that question first. "I asked for their help."

"Might I inquire as to why _them_?" Loki asked archly.

"They have skills I needed. I could not have accomplished this without them," Katirya acknowledged the help the two women had provided.

"Kiri," Hela paused to correct herself. "I mean, Katirya…"

"No, Kiri is fine now, for I count you among my friends," Katirya replied with a grin. The three women shared a conspiratorial look, recalling the encounter with Aerinmud.

"Kiri asked for our assistance. I was able to reduce Jotunheim to a level where they will not be troubling anyone for quite some time. And Lorelei was able to distract several of Aerinmud's guards so we could release you and Thor," Hela explained.

"And what, precisely, did you promise them? For I know neither would do something like this for nothing," Loki asked.

"Freedom from the prison for me," Lorelei replied as she moved to stand next to Hela.

"For me, a chance to leave Hel each year for a brief time," Hela added. She then looked at Katirya. "Kiri, I release you from the other part you promised."

Katirya looked at her. "I would have honored my word."

"I know that, but I now realize that no one could come between you two," Hela replied. "I would not have stood a chance." She shook her head and smiled ruefully. "Although it would have been fun to try."

"Try what?" Loki asked suspiciously.

"I will explain later…"

"No, now," Loki insisted.

Katirya pulled his head down and whispered in his ear.

"YOU PROMISED WHAT?" Loki roared.

Katirya shrugged. "I needed her help. If that is what it took…"

"I am almost half-tempted to honor your promise," Loki glared down at her. "But you still have not explained much of anything. I understand you made a pact with these two to come rescue us. We did not require your help! You could have been injured… or killed…"

"Perhaps, but you were the one who was," Katirya countered, her eyes starting to flare in anger.

"Was what?" Loki demanded.

"DEAD! You were dead when we brought you here. There was no way you could have helped yourself!" Katirya shouted, then started to cry. "I should have gone to Jotunheim first, not to Thanos. You would not have been dead then."

"Kiri, we talked about that," Hela spoke, her tone comforting. "You did what you thought was right. And besides, Thanos is dead, so we do not need to worry about him anymore."

"Wait, who is dead? First you say I am… was … dead. Now Thanos is dead?"

"Thanos is dead. I killed him. We brought the Warriors Three back here and then went for you," Katirya replied.

"I told you, we would have been fine…" Loki's voice trailed off. "Or not. We were…"

"Sold. That is what Thanos said. He had sold us," Thor supplied that bit of information. "I remember that much. Then he sent us to Jotunheim. The Jotun betrayed him though. They murdered the guards."

"I remember that…" Loki said. "They fell all around us, and then we were taken before Aerinmud. Kiri, perhaps you should begin at the start. This is all too confusing."

"Fine. It all started when you and Thor took off without waiting for me. I cannot believe you fell for that shape-shifter," Katirya frowned up at Loki.

"The shape-shifter. Now I remember," Loki shook his head ruefully. "Just as we were going through the Bifrost I realized the mistake. She… or he… was good."

"It was a she – Nebula. She is currently a guest in Asgard's prisons. How did she convince you?" Katirya asked.

"Nebula, right. At breakfast, you… I mean she came racing in, claiming to have translated the scrap of paper you found in the book. Her urgency…"

"It was real. We were all excited figuring to find the last Stone and deal with Thanos all at once," Thor added. "I was convinced it was you also. Do not blame him."

Katirya still looked skeptical.

"It was just as we were entering the Bifrost I realized what was wrong. The scrap of paper was the clue, but I had not looked closely at it until she gave it to me. That is when I realized we were walking into a trap, but it was too late," Loki recalled.

"But you still thought it was me?" Katirya asked with narrowed eyes, challenging him.

"I did not expect it to be anyone other than you. Why should I?" Loki countered.

Katirya finally nodded. "Okay, I guess I will accept that… this time."

Loki kissed her lightly. "Thank you for that concession," he teased her. "Now… the Warriors Three, what became of them? We were all locked in one cell for a short time before Thanos then sent Thor and me to Jotunheim."

"Well, I would highly suggest you never get your wife mad at you," Hela volunteered. "After she destroyed Thanos and fed his soul to the Thirteen, we brought the Warriors Three back here to the healers. We took off immediately to find you."

"So Thanos is destroyed? He can no longer return? You are certain?" Thor questioned.

"He is dead. I am certain of that. I saw it," Lorelei replied. "And, like Hela said; don't get Kiri mad."

Loki looked down at his wife. "I have had the misfortune to get on her bad side from time to time."

"The rest, well…" Katirya shrugged, then raced through the remainder of the explanation, not wanting to dwell on what she had seen. "Rather simple. We found you on Jotunheim, Hela reduced the Jotun to mere creatures, and we brought you back."

"Simple, eh? How does that explain all the blood?" Loki asked. "You seem to be avoiding the subject."

Katirya scrunched up her nose and sighed heavily. "I used the Tesseract. When we brought you back here, Eir said you were dead, that you had lost all your blood and she could not do anything for you. I refused to believe it, and then I remembered what the Tesseract could do, so I decided to try to see if I could control it - to move objects. I went back to Jotunheim, to the place where you had been chained to the ice. The blood… your blood… lay in deep pools all around," Katirya stumbled through parts of the explanation, clearly upset. "I simply called it to me. I could not think of any other way to bring it back other than on me. I guess I did not fully think my plan through, but I came back with your blood… and you are alive."

"You… just used the Tesseract?" Loki asked her. "Interesting."

Katirya nodded. "It can move objects. I thought it might work… and it obviously did." She leaned up against him.

Loki shook his head, hugging her tightly. "Thank you," he whispered quietly. "I wonder what else you can do with those Stones?"

"I do not know, but I could not allow you to die," Katirya looked up.

Loki brushed his fingers across her chin, wiping off a spot of dried blood. "You, my lady, need a bath."

"Care to join me?" She grinned up at him. 

**Author's Note: **_I really hoped you enjoyed this. I love to get reviews, so please let me know what you think. In regards to reviews, please remember to login to FFN in order for me to be able to respond to your comments. I have had a few "guest" reviews that I did not post (All guest reviews are moderated) simply because they posed questions and were not truly a review. I don't mind that if I can at least reply to you (thus – login please), but just random comments simply do not make sense._

_I do want to take a moment to address these guest reviews as they have all been along the same "theme". First, a gentle reminder that this is MY fanfic – it is my interpretation of events following "Thor: The Dark World"._

_A few guest reviews have asked how I intend to link it to Thor 3 since I have diverged so much from TDW. To be honest, I have no intentions of linking it to Thor 3. That movie is not scheduled out for at least 2 years, there is no script available to review, nor a complete story as to what they intend to do – lots of rumors, but I've no intentions of trying to link it. I have simply picked up the tale at the end of TDW and created my own explanation of the events after that movie. I loosely use the Marvel Universe (both comic and movie) along with some of the Norse mythology as I research and write this story._

_Others have made comments regarding things I am doing, telling me "That cannot happen". Again, remember – it is my story. One in particular started telling me that only three people can use Mjölnir. Based on my research, this is incorrect – but it doesn't matter – it is my story. There is a reason Kai could lift the hammer, and it will come into play eventually. _

_So, I simply want to remind you that it is my story. I am writing it for my enjoyment. I post it for those who enjoy reading fanfic. You do not have to like my story, or what I do with my characters, but it is my story. _


	19. Chapter 19: Aberration

Chapter 19: Aberration

_**~∞~Earth ~∞~**_

"Jane, calm down," Erik raced after the woman as she dashed out the door of the lab. "You are not yourself!"

Jane whirled around to face Erik. "What do you mean, I am not myself? Who am I? I am certainly not you or Darcy… or… whatshisname." She flung her hand towards Ian.

"Ian, the name's Ian," Ian muttered.

"He's my intern," Darcy chimed in.

Jane's gaze focused on Ian. "I do not care who you are… Intern?" She stared at Darcy. "Since when do you rate an intern? Who is paying him?"

"I do not get paid anything," Ian answered.

"Great, since you are not getting paid, why are you hanging around?" Jane asked.

"Jane, this isn't about Ian…" Erik began.

"I know; it's about Thor. What part of that don't you understand? I have to go help him. Somehow we have to get back there." Jane stomped her foot impatiently.

"Jane, one simply does not summon a god," Erik replied.

"I don't care what you think, Thor is in trouble, and I need to help him," Jane insisted. She started pacing up and down the sidewalk outside the lab. On one of her passes, she kicked a Pepsi can into the street.

"How do you know he is in trouble?" Darcy attempted to reason with her friend, trying to get her to calm down.

"I just _know,_" Jane replied, finally pausing from her pacing. She put her hands on her hips and stared at Ian once again. "When did you hire an intern?"

"When we went to England to find Erik," Darcy answered.

"Oh, right. I remember that now," Jane scratched her head. "That was before the wedding." She stared at the entrance to the lab, looking at it quizzically. "What happened to that security guard?"

"The security guard?" Erik asked.

"Yeah, the one whose birthday party you made me go to the other day," Jane replied. "The one you keep trying to fix me up with."

"Oh, he had to go home, family problems," Erik said, exchanging a quick glance at Darcy.

"And we weren't trying to fix you up with him…" Darcy started to say, only to be interrupted.

"Really? Seemed like every time I turned around you were inviting him over," Jane accused them. "He has the creepiest friends, those cosplayers… always dressed up weird, trying to pretend they were from some renaissance faire or something."

"But you remember the wedding?" Erik asked.

"Of course! How could I forget since it was only last month," Jane replied.

"Last month?" Darcy's eyes narrowed. "Whose wedding was it?"

"Wait? Don't tell me you forgot? After that woman helped us find such gorgeous dresses?" Jane snorted. "It was Sif's wedding. She married one of those warriors…" her voice trailed off, and she collapsed in a faint.

"Damn! Something is messing up her mind," Erik knelt by Jane. Checking her pulse, he looked up at the other two. "I wonder what brought all this on?"

"I dunno, but she was acting fine yesterday. Well, not exactly fine, she hasn't been the same since we came back." Darcy joined him on the ground as Ian took off into the building.

"No, she has not been the same since then. She was skittish of Thor this past year – did not even recognize him. I found that rather odd," Erik said.

"But, she knew who Loki and the others were last month at the party, and during their other visits. I wonder why she doesn't remember them now?" Darcy asked.

Ian returned with a cold cloth. He handed it to Darcy who placed it on Jane's forehead.

"We _have _to get her back to Asgard," Erik said. "Maybe Kiri can help her."

"Yeah, but how do we do that? We can't just, you know, pick up the phone and call them," Darcy whipped out her cell phone and put it to her ear and pretended to make a call. "Hello? Asgard? Yeah, it's Darcy, and we need to come visit…" Darcy dropped her cell phone and stared as the Bifrost effect began to appear. "Holy shit… I do not believe this!"

The Lady Sif appeared as the Bifrost dissipated. "You called?"

Darcy stared down at her phone. "It's that easy?"

Sif laughed. "Not really. Heimdall has just been keeping watch over you. He said Jane was having some issues."

"That's an understatement," Darcy replied, gesturing towards the unconscious woman.

"Yes, she appears to be having flashbacks and partial memory restorations. She insists Thor is in trouble and she has to go help him," Erik added.

"Thor _was _in trouble, but he is back in Asgard now. Interesting that she seemed to know of it." Sif cocked her head to one side staring down at her rival. "If you would like to return, Heimdall can bring us all back."

"Is it wise? Do you think she might have a relapse?" Erik asked.

Sif shrugged. "Eir would be the one to know that."

Jane stirred, waking up slowly. She sat up. "What happened?" she asked and then spied Sif. "Sif! Thank goodness you've arrived. I need to go back and help Thor."

"I was just explaining to the others that Thor is fine," Sif replied calmly.

"He is in danger!" Jane insisted, rising up from the ground. "Loki is alive and intends to kill him for the throne!"

Erik and Darcy exchanged a quick glance before standing up. They moved to stand next to Jane.

"Jane, really, you must calm down. Let's go sit down in the lab…" Erik reached out for Jane's arm only to have the woman push him away.

"I am perfectly fine! What is it? Are you afraid I am going to leave and live in Asgard? Maybe I should!" Jane shouted.

"Jane, when was the last time you saw Thor?" Darcy asked.

"At the wedding, last year," Jane replied, and then her eyes clouded over. "It was… Loki's wedding, but that cannot be as he is dead."

"You just said Loki was alive, and that the wedding was last month," Darcy pointed out.

"Yes! He intends to kill Thor and claim the throne for himself! We have to go back at once!" Jane grabbed Sif's arm.

"Jane, the wedding was almost four years ago…" Erik tried to tell her only to be interrupted.

"That is impossible! It can't have been four years ago!"

"Thor has been living down here the past year. Remember that security guard you were just asking about?" Darcy asked.

"What security guard?" Jane asked. "Oh, _that _security guard. The one you guys kept trying to fix me up with. What about him?"

"That _was _Thor," Erik told her.

"That's impossible! That wasn't Thor!" Jane closed her eyes and shook her head furiously. "Where is he, he's not at his usual post?" Jane opened her eyes and pointed to the door to the lab.

"Jane, why don't we get out of this hot sun, sit down, and talk about the whole thing. You seem to have confused a few things," Erik offered.

"Hmmm, it is hot out here. Sure, let's go back inside. Why were we all out here in the first place?" Jane asked in a normal voice.

As they entered the building, Erik pulled Sif aside. "This just started today; something seems to be messing up her memories. Do you think Eir can help?"

"I do not know, but it is possible she might be able to, or Kiri," Sif replied. She then went on to fill Erik in on what had recently happened to Thor and Loki.

"So she was right that Thor was in trouble!" Erik exclaimed once Sif had finished.

"Indeed, but he is better now. He was not injured as badly as Loki, although the Jotun had no love for either of the sons of Odin," Sif replied grimly.

"Had? As in past tense?" Erik looked at Sif curiously.

"Yes, Hela was rather creative in her approach to the problem. The Jotun will not trouble Asgard for many years," Sif laughed. "Hela heated up the atmosphere, causing the world to warm. This caused the Jotuns to shrink to a _normal_ size; they were not very happy from what Hela said."

"And you said that Loki was essentially dead, and Kiri was able to use the Stones to save him. Interesting… do you think she could use them to help Jane?" Erik asked.

"It is possible. I do not know much of the Stones myself. We can take Jane back to Asgard, but she might have problems once she sees Loki, or even Frigga, if she still thinks them dead."

"We will have to take that chance; otherwise I feel she will go crazy left like this," Erik replied.

They caught up with the others who had taken Jane into one of the break rooms. "Jane? How would you like to go back to Asgard?" Erik asked.

"Why would I want to go there?" Jane looked at him. "You know I hate it there."

Darcy raised her eyebrows. "Since when have you hated it there?"

"Oh my god! Don't tell me you've forgotten everything that happened?" Jane looked astounded. She sighed heavily. "I can't believe it."

"No, I've not forgotten, but I thought you liked it there. And… you were just saying you wanted to visit Thor." Darcy walked over the vending machine. Putting a dollar into it, she punched a button, and a candy bar popped out. Unwrapping it, she tossed the wrapper into the garbage and raised the chocolate up to her mouth.

"Don't eat that!" Jane dashed the candy bar out of Darcy's hand.

"Why did you do that?" Darcy shouted at Jane.

"It was poisoned! Loki did it!" Jane shrieked. "You could've died!"

Darcy rolled her eyes, reaching down to pick up the candy bar. "Jane, really? Loki isn't here. How could he poison a candy bar, and more to the point, why would he?"

"YOU know why!" Jane's eyes were blazing as she advanced on Darcy reaching towards the candy bar again.

Darcy backed away, hiding the candy bar behind her back. Erik moved forward to grab Jane only to have her whirl around and punched him in the nose. His hand went immediately to his face as blood spurted from his nose.

"Jane! Calm down!" Darcy shouted.

Sif moved up behind Jane, grabbing both her arms and holding them behind Jane's back. Jane started screaming then passed out as three security guards raced into the room, guns drawn.

Seeing the Asgardian warrior had Jane secured, they lowered their weapons. "What is going on?" one asked.

"We are not sure," Erik replied. "Dr. Foster appears to be having hallucinations. I think it was the experiment she was working on; I think she got some of the chemicals on her. We need to transport her to… uh, medical."

"Medical, right!" the guard replied. He lifted up his radio. "I will alert them to your problem and let them know you are coming. Do you wish us to escort you?" He eyed Sif apprehensively.

"No, Lady Sif can handle Dr. Foster. Thank you for your prompt response," Erik said. He waited until the guards had retreated and then looked at Sif. "I think we need to get her back to Asgard at once."

"I agree. She is very unstable," Sif concurred. "Heimdall!"


End file.
